Lymphomas of salivary glands

Abstract

Primary lymphomas arising in salivary glands are very uncommon. The histologic classification of 40 cases of lymphomas in salivary gland tissue submitted to the British Salivary Gland Tumour Panel is reported, and, for 30 of the patients for whom adequate information was available, the clinical presentation, management, and outcome have been analyzed. Lymphomas in salivary glands represented 1.7% of all reported salivary neoplasms. The majority developed in the parotid glands of patients aged between 50 and 70 years. Only four cases gave a premorbid history compatible with sicca syndrome. In this series, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas predominated; 23 were Grade I, and 13 were Grade II. Treatment regimens were not uniform, but are outlined. Survival ranged from 5 to 111 months. Median survival for the group was 49 months. Prognosis was not influenced by the clinical stage of disease at presentation. Four cases of lymphoma arising in benign lymphoepithelial lesions are included. None had clinical symptoms of sicca complex. Prognosis for this group was found to be as favorable as the others.