Multidisciplinary management of radiation-induced salivary gland carcinomas in the modern radiotherapy era

Clinical data of ri-SGCs patients treated between 2015 and 2019 at a tertiary cancer center and a national hadron therapy facility were reviewed. Latent time (LT) from first RT to ri-SGCs diagnosis, overall (OS), and disease-free survival (DFS) were assessed. Thirteen patients developed 14 ri-SGCs (one patient had 2 synchronous ri-SCGs), after a median LT of 23 years (range 16–34). Parotid was the primary site in 8 cases (57%) and salivary duct carcinoma was the most frequent histotype (29%). Nine patients (69%) underwent surgery (Sx). Among them, 4 patients (31%) underwent Sx alone, 5 received post-operative treatments: 3 (23%) photon-based (X) reRT, one (8%) protons and carbon ions, one (8%) carbon ions only. One patient (8%) received definitive XRT. The remaining 3 patients (23%) received androgen deprivation therapy. With a median follow-up of 48 months (range 24–72), median OS and PFS were 74 and 24 months, respectively. In the subgroup of AR+ ri-SGCs, median PFS and OS were 12 and 74 months, respectively. Given the rarity of ri-SGCs, this work adds further knowledge to the paucity of literature. The management of these malignancies is extremely complex requiring a multidisciplinary treatment approach.