The worldwide epidemiology of salivary gland tumors

Abstract

Salivary gland tumors cannot be classified as frequent tumors. That is why worldwide we have relatively only a limited number of publications on their occurrence. In our article, we tried to collect these studies from different continents so that we could get a concise, relevant picture of their epidemiology. For our research, we have looked for publications in PubMed between 1998 and 2018 and we systematized the results. Benign tumors occurred at a higher rate, on average 65,6%, 34,4% of malignancies, except Nigeria and Iran, where malignant tumors were more common. The average age is 46,8 years, in Europe the age group of 50s, on other continents the age group of 40s is more concerned. The gender distribution is equal, except in Mexico, Cameroon and Tehran, where female dominance is significant. Most tumors were localized in the parotid, the most common benign tumor was pleomorphic adenoma, while adenocystic carcinoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma ranked first among malignants. Differences in countries around the world can be attributed to geographical, ethnic and social reasons, and to differences in health administration and registration. Further investigations are needed to identify the causes more accurately.

Keywords

• benign and malignant salivary gland tumors
• epidemiology