Tumors of the intraoral minor salivary glands: a demographic and histologic study of 426 cases.

In a demographic and histologic study of 426 oral minor salivary gland tumors, 57.5% were classified as benign and 42.5% were classified as malignant or potentially malignant. There was an overall female preponderance (1.59/1). The mean age for females was 53.1 years and for males was 50.6 years. The mean age for patients with malignant tumors was 5.4 years greater than for patients with benign tumors and was statistically significant. The palate was the most common site for oral minor salivary gland tumors followed by the upper lip and the buccal mucosa. These three sites accounted for 76.1% of all cases. Pleomorphic adenoma was the most common benign tumor (41% of all cases and 71% of benign tumors) followed by monomorphic adenoma of the canalicular and basal cell subtypes (10% of all tumors and 18.9% of benign lesions). Mucoepidermoid carcinoma was the most commonly encountered malignant tumor, accounting for 15.2% of all tumors and 35.9% of malignant lesions. Low-grade (terminal duct, lobular, polymorphous) adenocarcinoma was the most second most common type, making up 11% of all tumors and 26.4% of all malignant tumors. The results of this study are compared with other recent studies.