A clinico‐pathologic study of 311 intra‐oral salivary gland tumors in Thais

Abstract

There have been several epidemiologic studies on intra-oral salivary gland tumors in several countries, but little is known of these tumors in Thailand. To determine the relative frequency and distribution of various types of intra-oral salivary gland tumors in the Thai population. The files of the Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, from 1969 to 2007 were searched for intra-oral salivary gland tumors. Histopathologic slides were reviewed and reclassified according to the 2005 WHO Classification of Head and Neck Tumors. The age, gender, race, and anatomical distribution of the tumors were collected from the patients' records. Of the 16,358 accessioned cases, 311 cases (1.90%) were diagnosed as intra-oral salivary gland tumors. One hundred and forty-seven cases (47.27%) were benign tumors, while 164 cases (52.73%) were malignant tumors. The mean age of the patient +/- SD = 41.57 +/- 16.65 years. Females outnumbered male patients by a ratio of M:F = 1:1.38. Almost all except one patient were Thais. Pleomorphic adenoma was the most common intra-oral salivary gland tumor. The majority of cases occurred at the palate. Pleomorphic adenoma is the most common intra-oral salivary gland tumor and the most common benign intra-oral salivary gland tumor, while mucoepidermoid carcinoma is the most common malignant intra-oral salivary gland tumor. Intra-oral salivary gland tumors in Thailand elicit similar trend as in previous studies, with only minor differences such as the ranking of some tumors, the higher incidence of intra-bony location, and the lower incidence of polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma.