Malignant lymphomas of the salivary glands. Review of the literature and report of 33 new cases, including four cases associated with the lymphoepithelial lesion

Abstract

Malignant lymphomas involving major salivary glands have been reported to occur in 31 cases. To these, we add 33 cases, 17 of which were studied in detail from the points of view of clinical presentation, classification (Rappaport), staging (Ann Arbor), therapy, and subsequent course. The parotid gland was involved much more frequently than the submandibular gland. No example of sublingual gland involvement was discovered in the present series. Most of the patients were in the sixth and seventh decades of life. Noteworthy is that all sub-types of lymphosarcoma were encountered, with only a single case of Hodgkin's disease present. In four of the patients, the characteristic histologic picture of lymphoepithelial lesion was found in juxtaposition to malignant lymphoma. The majority of patients received one or more courses of postoperative radiotherapy, which offered the best chance for long-term remission. However, only 40% of patients were free of disease after two years.