Salivary gland cancers are usually treated with surgery and irradiation; however, some of the aggressive
salivary gland cancers recur or metastasize and are not amendable to treatment with further surgery or irradiation. Little is known about
chemotherapy for these palliative situations because of the relatively scarcity of these
cancers. The data in the literature has provided little clinical information because all
salivary gland cancers are usually lumped together and/or multiple different
drug combination are used. In an effort to arrive at a rational basis for recommending specific
drug regimens for specific histologic types of
salivary gland cancers, a two-part study was undertaken to determine which
chemotherapy drugs seem to be effective or ineffective. One part was a literature review, and the second part was a survey of numerous institutions' experiences, including our own. A total of 85 cases of
salivary gland cancers treated with
chemotherapy were felt to be evaluable for this study. The overall response rate (complete and partial) was 42%. Although disease responded whether it was local, regional, or distant disease, there was a higher response rate in local-regional disease compared to distant
metastases.
Salivary gland cancers are definitely sensitive to
chemotherapy drugs. This study reveals which drugs seem to be effective and provides some rational basis for future
chemotherapy trials for
salivary gland cancers.