Intraoral salivary gland neoplasms: a retrospective study of seventy cases in an African population

Abstract

Intraoral salivary gland neoplasms diagnosed in the Department of Oral Pathology, Medical University of Southern Africa, Medunsa, were reassessed and revised with regard to histologic diagnosis. New entities and subclassifications that have been described in recent years were taken into account. Seventy cases were diagnosed during an 8-year period, and the sample consisted of black patients only. Benign mixed tumor was the most common entity and accounted for 48% of all tumors. Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma comprised 15.7% of the sample and was the most frequent malignant tumor. The mean age of patients with benign and malignant tumors were 36.5 and 49.8 years, respectively (p less than 0.05), and the palate was the most common site involved. Geographic differences do exist in the pattern and pathology of intraoral salivary gland neoplasms when compared with findings in other studies.