Salivary duct carcinoma: an analysis of four cases with review of literature.

Salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) is a histologically distinctive neoplasm of the parotid gland. The criteria for the diagnosis of SDC are circumscribed epithelial nests having a papillary, cribriform, and/or solid architecture coupled with central necrosis. The infiltrating cancer can be papillary, resembling the intraductal component or have a nonspecific, undifferentiated pattern. The authors are presenting four cases and compare them with 11 other acceptable cases from the literature. The neoplasm occurs beyond the age of 50 (median 63 years) and has a dismal prognosis with nearly two-thirds of the patients developing distant metastases. All surviving patients have been treated with combined parotidectomy and radiotherapy.