Factors influencing survival in acinic cell carcinoma: a retrospective survival analysis of 2061 patients.

Abstract

Acinic cell carcinoma is an uncommon salivary neoplasm with clinical and histologic features known to influence prognosis. The purpose of this study was to further describe variables influencing survival in a large cohort of patients with acinic cell carcinoma. Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry, we obtained demographic, clinicopathologic, and treatment data pertaining to patients diagnosed with acinic cell carcinoma. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were performed to compare survival with various clinical and pathological parameters. We identified 2061 patients with acinic cell carcinoma from 1973 to 2009. Sex, staging, grade, subsite, and treatment were significant predictors of disease-specific survival (DSS). Patients who received surgery alone had the highest 20-year DSS (92.4%), followed by those treated with surgery and radiation (71.9%) or radiation alone (62.3%). Our results suggest that histologic grade is a stronger predictor of survival than TNM classification, survival after surgical resection alone is excellent, and adjuvant radiation may be of limited benefit