Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is an uncommon tumor in the region of head and neck, and its clinical feature is characterized by sluggish growth and frequent recurrences due to its invasive evolution and extension along the perineural lymphatics. A case of ACC, a 73-year-old woman, is presented here.
In 1964, she had undergone the excision of a tumor from her left cheek, and for the past 20 years she was free of the tumor until she came to our department complaining of a asymptomatic, round-tumor about 5 cm in diameter, in a similar location. As a biopsy specimen showed ACC, the excision of the tumor and post-operative irradiation of 30 Gy was carried out.
Pathological, and various clinical examinations, indicated that the tumor which had arisen in a minor salivary gland of her left cheek, and had been excised, recurred 20 years later.
