Salivary gland tumor staging
Salivary gland tumor Microchapters |
Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
Case Studies |
Salivary gland tumor staging On the Web |
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Salivary gland tumor staging |
Risk calculators and risk factors for Salivary gland tumor staging |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Simrat Sarai, M.D. [2]
Overview
Staging
Stage | Tumor location |
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Primary tumor cannot be assessed |
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No evidence of a primary tumor |
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Tumor ≤2 cm in greatest dimension without extraparenchymal extension. |
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Tumor >2 cm but ≤4 cm in greatest dimension without extraparenchymal extension |
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Tumor >4 cm and/or tumor having extraparenchymal extension. |
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N classification | Nodal Mass |
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Regional lymph nodes cannot be assessed |
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No regional lymph node metastasis. |
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Metastasis in a single ipsilateral lymph node, ≤3 cm in greatest dimension. |
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N classification | Nodal Mass |
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No distant metastasis |
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Distant metastasis |
Stage | T | N | M |
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Grading is a way of classifying salivary cancer cells based on their appearance and behaviour when viewed under a microscope. To find out the grade of a tumour, the biopsy sample is examined under a microscope. A grade is given based on how the cancer cells look and behave compared with normal cells (differentiation). This can give the healthcare team an idea of how quickly the cancer may be growing and how likely it is to spread.
The grade of salivary gland cancer is based on the degree of differentiation of cells and their rate of growth.
Grade | Description |
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low | Well differentiated – slow growing, less likely to spread |
Intermediate | Moderately well-differentiated |
High |
poorly differentiated – tend to grow quickly, more likely to spread |
Grading for salivary gland cancers is used mainly for mucoepidermoid carcinomas, adenocarcinomas, adenocarcinoma NOS, squamous cell carcinomas and adenoid cystic carcinomas. Other salivary gland cancers can also be graded in the same way.
Low grade | Low, intermediate or high grade | High grade |
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Acinic cell carcinoma | Adenocarcinoma not otherwise specified (NOS) | Adenoid cystic carcinoma* |
Basal cell adenocarcinoma | Mucoepidermoid carcinoma | Anaplastic small cell carcinoma |
Clear cell carcinoma | Squamous cell carcinoma | Carcinosarcoma |
Cystadenocarcinoma | Small and large cell undifferentiated carcinoma | |
Epithelia-myoepithelial carcinoma | Salivary duct carcinoma | |
Mucinous adenocarcinoma | Carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma | |
Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (PLGA) |
- Some adenoid cystic carcinomas can also be intermediate grade.
Grading plays an important part in planning salivary gland cancer treatment and can also be used to help estimate the prognosis (future outcome). However, the grade is not the only factor used to predict the future outcome. It must be considered together with staging information. Staging, in particular tumour size, is an important prognostic factor and may be more important than the grade in terms of successful treatment. For example, sometimes a stage I, intermediate- or high-grade tumour can be treated with more success than a low-grade tumour that is a stage III.