Treatment and prognosis of mucoepidermoid carcinoma in the pediatric age group.

Although mucoepidermoid carcinoma is the most common malignant salivary neoplasm in adults, it occurs rarely in the pediatric age group. A retrospective study of 15 pediatric cases from 1954 to 1984 showed that 13 of the patients were 10 to 15 years old, and 11 were female. The parotid (11/15) and the palate (4/15) were the sites involved. Tumors were graded into three categories: well differentiated (grade I), moderately differentiated (grade II), and poorly differentiated (grade III). Tumor grade influenced the method and outcome of treatment. Wide local composite resection was used for palatal tumors, and total parotidectomy (with or without nerve resection) and nodal dissection was the technique selected for parotid tumors. No nodal or distant metastases were present in the poorly differentiated tumor category (2/15). A follow-up period of ten years or more was possible in 90% of the cases. The prognosis for those studied is excellent, and there have been no deaths attributable to the malignant process.