Pathology consultation. Metastatic patterns of salivary gland neoplasms.

Long-term follow-up of salivary gland carcinomas allows a better evaluation of their biologic malignancy than the traditional five-year period. Metastases (distant and local) are possible over the entire lifetime of a patient and are dependent upon histologic grade, persistence of neoplasm and clinical stage. Distant metastases to bone and lungs are manifested by nearly every carcinoma. Metastases to regional lymph nodes vary according to histologic type and it appears that the adenoid cystic carcinoma has the lowest incidence of that event.