Overview

Cancer begins when cells in the body become abnormal and multiply without control or order. These cells form a mass of tissue, called a tumor. A tumor can be benign or malignant. A benign tumor is not cancerous and usually can be removed without the risk of growing back. A malignant tumor is cancerous and can invade and damage the body’s healthy tissue and organs.

Cancer of the salivary gland is a malignant tumor of the tissues that produce saliva. Saliva is the fluid that is released into the mouth to keep it moist and contains enzymes that begin breaking down food. Saliva also helps prevent infections of the mouth and throat. There are clusters of salivary glands in several places in the head and neck, including below the tongue, on the sides of the face (in the cheek area) just in front of the ears, in the area of the upper jaw along the inside of the teeth and the soft palate, as well as under the jawbone. There are also smaller clusters of salivary glands in parts of the upper digestive tract mucosa (tissue lining) and the windpipe.

Doctors often refer to three pairs of salivary glands as the major salivary glands: the parotid glands (the largest salivary gland; found on either side of the face in front of the ears), the submandibular glands (found under the jawbone), and the sublingual glands (in the bottom of the mouth under the tongue). As described above, there are many other, smaller areas that contain salivary glands; these are often called the minor salivary glands.

A tumor can arise in any of the salivary glands. Most tumors (80%) in the parotid gland and about half of the tumors in the submandibular gland are benign (noncancerous). Sublingual gland tumors are almost always malignant (cancerous).

Most cancerous tumors of this type begin in the parotid gland, and in the submandibular glands. Salivary gland cancer can also begin in the sublingual glands or the minor salivary glands.

There are many subtypes of salivary gland tumors, depending on the type of cell where the cancer started and an evaluation of tumor cells under a microscope. This is covered in more detail in Staging.

This rest of this section covers primary salivary gland cancer, which is cancer that begins in the salivary glands. Sometimes, another type of cancer (most commonly melanoma or other skin cancer) can spread to the salivary glands or the lymph nodes (tiny, bean-shaped organs that fight infection) located inside and surrounding the parotid gland and next to the submandibular gland. For more information about cancer that started in another part of the body and then spread to the salivary glands, please see Cancer.Net’s guide for that type of cancer.

Salivary gland cancer is one of the five main types of cancer in the head and neck region, a grouping called head and neck cancer.

Statistics

Salivary gland cancer is rare in the United States. An estimated two adults out of 100,000 will be diagnosed with salivary gland cancer this year. Two out of every three salivary gland cancers are found in people 55 and older, with an average age of 64. Survival rates for people with this type of tumor vary depending on the type and the stage (extent) of the cancer. The five-year survival rate (percentage of people who survive at least five years after the cancer is detected, excluding those who die from other diseases) of people with cancer that has not spread at the time of diagnosis is 96%. If the cancer has spread to the surrounding lymph nodes (local spread) the five-year relative survival rate is 73%. If the cancer has spread to parts of the body far away from the salivary gland (distant spread) the five-year relative survival rate is 37%.

Cancer survival statistics should be interpreted with caution. These estimates are based on data from thousands of cases of this type of cancer in the United States each year, but the actual risk for a particular individual may differ. It is not possible to tell a person how long he or she will live with salivary gland cancer. Because the survival statistics are measured in five-year intervals, they may not represent advances made in the treatment or diagnosis of this cancer.

Source: American Cancer Society

Find out more about basic cancer terms used in this section.