A systematic review of secretory carcinoma of the salivary gland: where are we?

• Published in: Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology, 2021-10, Vol.132 (4), p.e143-e152
• Main Authors: Alves, Lísia Daltro Borges, de Melo, Andreia Cristina, Farinha, Thayana Alves, de Lima Araujo, Luiz Henrique, Thiago, Leandro de Souza, Dias, Fernando Luiz, Antunes, Héliton Spíndola, Amaral Eisenberg, Ana Lucia, Santos Thuler, Luiz Claudio, Cohen Goldemberg, Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Dentistry
• ISSN: 2212-4403; 2212-4411
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oooo.2020.04.007

The aim of this systematic review was to describe the epidemiology, diagnostic criteria, differential diagnosis, treatment, prognostic factors, and treatment outcomes of secretory carcinoma. A comprehensive search of Lilacs, PubMed, Science Direct, and Web of Science databases was conducted to identify all case reports, letter to the editor, and histopathologic reclassifications regarding salivary gland secretory carcinoma published in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. The final analysis included 119 studies, which totaled 642 secretory carcinoma diagnoses, with 239 case reports and 403 diagnostic reclassifications, mostly in the United States. The age range was 5 to 87 years, and cases were predominantly in males (58.7%) and mostly affecting the parotid glands (73.7%). The disease usually presents as a slow-growing, painless mass. The main differential diagnosis is acinic cell carcinoma, and the tumor is usually treated with surgery. The prognosis is considered favorable, although there have been reports of local recurrences, distant metastases, and deaths. It is important that clinicians become aware of this salivary gland neoplasm and report clinical data, clinical course, management and long-term follow-up. There is an urgent need to conduct more clinical trials, especially on tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitors and other potential target therapy modalities.