Cisplatin therapy for adenoid cystic carcinoma.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of salivary gland origin is a relentless disease that produces a high rate of local recurrence, metastases, and death, regardless of the type of treatment. There have been few previous reports of effective chemotherapy. Cisplatin has been chosen for a trial in the treatment of patients with persistent, recurrent, or metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma because of its demonstrated activity against a variety of tumor types, especially those with a low growth fraction. Ten patients have been included in a pilot study. Seventy percent of these patients have had a favorable subjective response and objective tumor regression. Further clinical trials are suggested.