Clinical study of salivary gland malignant tumor with skull base metastasis.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical performance, pathological characteristics, treatment and prognosis of salivary gland malignant tumor (SGMT) with skull base metastasis.

Methods: Five SGMT patients with skull base metastasis were retrospectively studied. Major clinical symptoms included headache, facial paralysis, and ear hearing loss. Three patients had previous history of SGMT resection. All patients underwent preoperative computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Craniotomy was performed in three patients, and all the five patients underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Results: Two patients were confirmed as having adenocarcinoma, one patient was pathologically confirmed to have squamous cell carcinoma, one patient had ductal carcinoma, and one patient had acinar cell carcinoma. One patient died after 2 years of treatment, and the remaining 4 patients were followed up for 6 ∼ 24 months, suggesting that the tumor size was not enlarged or showed no local recurrence.

Conclusion: SGMT with skull base metastasis is extremely rare, and due to similar imaging characteristics, it can be easily misdiagnosed as meningioma or schwannoma. Early diagnosis, extent of invasion, surgery and combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy are the prognostic factors of the disease.