Background and objective

When developed on head and neck, both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) can be spread to the parotid gland (PG) because of its permanence or due to the lymphatic spreading. In this case, the most appropriate option is the surgical procedure, provided that the progression of the tumor, the general condition of the patient and the non-dissemination of the tumor allow it.

Our aim is to analyze the treatment followed and the number of recurrences, as well as mortality of our series in which the tumors cited invades the GP.

Methods

The study includes a selection of 26 patients (22 male and 2 female) with a parotid gland tumor diagnosis as a consequence of a melanoma/NMSC metastasis. All of them had undergone surgical procedure, 5 with a superficial lobe parotidectomy, and the remaining 19 with a total parotidectomy. Modified radical neck dissection Type III was applied to 19 patients. After that, they continued receiving radiotherapy and/or chemo o inmunotherapy.

Results

This study was conducted between 2012 and 2018, with a patient’s follow-up from 0 to 114 months. Patients had a recurrence rate of 15.38% a mortality of 34.6%. The most frequent complications as a result of the surgical ablation were the facial paralysis in all 3 cases where the facial nerve was not preserved, and the neurapraxia in the facial nerve, specifically the marginal mandibular branches and the buccal branches, which decreased over time.

Conclusions

The preferred treatment of metastasis of PG tumors as a consequence of this kind of skin cancer is the surgical procedure with gland exeresis and keeping the facial nerve, as long as the tumor invasion does not affect it. Postoperative radiotherapy will also be an essentially useful resource as a treatment complement. For the moment, the results of the combinated therapy are not encouraging. However, thanks to the immunotherapies applied in melanoma cases and to the radiotherapy applied in squamous cell carcinoma invasions, best prospects are expected. Probably, this will result in less radical surgical procedures with few sequelae.

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