Seventeen patients with adenocystic carcinoma have received 34 adequate trials of chemotherapy at Princess Margaret Hospital since 1969. There have been five objective responses to chemotherapy in 4 cases, lasting from five to 24 months, and 3 other patients have had stabilized disease for a period of five to seven months. Responding and stabilized patients all had symptomatic improvement. Most responses were to 5-fluorouracil, the preferred drug for initial treatment of metastatic disease or locoregional disease that cannot be controlled by means of surgery or radiation therapy.
Cancer 46:452-454, 1980.
DENOCYSTIC CARCINOMAS are uncommon neo-
A plasms that usually arise from salivary gland tissue. These tumors tend to grow slowly, but to recur locally after either surgery or radiotherapy.' They often involve young people, and unlike squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, commonly metastasize to lungs and elsewhere. The development of recurrent or metastatic adenocystic carcinoma in young people poses a need for systemic treatment, but there are few reports of the response of this type of tumor to chemotherapy. We therefore report our experience from the Princess Margaret Hospital.