Abstract
We reviewed 40 cases of previously untreated malignant tumors arising in the parotid gland that had been treated at Hyogo College of Medicine Hospital between 1986 and 2008.
According to the TNM classification, 4 patients were classified as T1, 5 patients as T2, 10 patients as T3, and 21 patients as T4. Thirty cases were staged as N0, 1 case as N2a, and 9 cases as N2b. The five-year and ten-year cause-specific survival rates were 100% for stage I, 100% for stage II, 87% for stage III, and 57% and 21% for stage IV based on the Kaplan-Meier method. Survival rates were significantly lower in stage IV than in stages I-III. 14/40 patients (35%) exhibited facial nerve palsy before treatment. Total neck dissection may be necessary for N0 cases, especially for T4a or cases in which high malignancy cancer was suspected by FNAB or a frozen section obtained during surgery.
