science

Salivary gland tumour

Salivary gland tumour is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Salivary gland tumour rather than just read about it. In short: Salivary gland tumours, or neoplasms, are tumours that form in the tissues of salivary glands. The salivary glands are classified as major or minor.

Key takeaways

Salivary gland tumour belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Salivary gland tumour to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Salivary gland tumour from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Salivary gland tumours, or neoplasms, are tumours that form in the tissues of salivary glands. The salivary glands are classified as major or minor. The major salivary glands consist of the parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands. The minor salivary glands consist of 800 to 1000 small mucus-secreting glands located throughout the lining of the oral cavity. People with these types of tumours may be asymptomatic.

Presentation Salivary gland tumours usually present as a lump or swelling in the affected gland, which may or may not have been present for a long time. The lump may be accompanied by symptoms of ductal obstruction (e.g., xerostomia). Usually, in their early stages, it is not possible to distinguish a benign tumour from a malignant one. One of the key differentiating symptoms of malignant growth is nerve involvement; for example, signs of facial nerve damage (e.g., facial nerve paralysis) are associated with malignant parotid tumours. Facial pain and paresthesias are also very often associated with malignant tumours. Other red-flag symptoms which may suggest malignancy and warrant further investigation are fixation of the lump to the overlying skin, ulceration and induration (hardening) of the mucosa.

Diagnosis The diagnosis and differentiation of salivary gland tumors involves multi-modal methods: Physical exam and history: An exam of the body to check general signs of health. The head, neck, mouth, and throat will be checked for signs of disease, such as lumps or other abnormalities. A medical history will also be taken. Endoscopy: A procedure to look at orifices in the body to check for abnormal areas. For salivary gland cancer, an endoscope is inserted into the mouth to look at the mouth, throat, and larynx. An endoscope is a thin, tube-like instrument with a light and a lens for viewing. MRI and/or CT Scan: These tests can confirm the presence of a tumour. An MRI and/or CT scan can also show whether metastasis has occurred. Biopsy: The removal of abnormal cells or tissues for viewing under a microscope by a pathologist to check for signs of cancer. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy: The removal of tissue or fluid using a thin needle. An FNA is the most common biopsy for salivary gland cancer and has been shown to yield accurate results in distinguishing benign from malignant tumours. Radiographs: An orthopantomogram can be taken to rule out mandibular involvement. A chest radiograph may also be taken to rule out any secondary tumours. Ultrasound: Ultrasound can be used to initially assess a tumour that is located superficially in either the submandibular or parotid gland. It can distinguish an intrinsic from an extrinsic neoplasm. Ultrasonic images of malignant tumours include ill-defined margins. Furthermore, high-resolution ultrasound can identify the exact tumour location within the parotid gland, its relationship to the retromandibular vein, and assist surgical excision.

Classification

Due to the diverse nature of salivary gland tumours, many different terms and classification systems have been used. Perhaps the most widely used currently is that system proposed by the World Health Organization in 2005. This system defines five broad categories of salivary gland neoplasms: benign epithelial, malignant epithelial, soft tissue, hematolymphoid, and secondary. Benign epithelial tumours

Pleomorphic adenoma Warthin's tumor Myoepithelioma Basal cell adenoma Oncocytoma Canalicular adenoma Lymphadenoma Sebaceous lymphadenoma Nonsebaceous lymphadenoma Ductal papilloma Inverted ductal papilloma Intraductal papilloma Sialadenoma papilliferum Cystadenoma Malignant epithelial tumours Acinic cell carcinoma Mucoepidermoid carcinoma Adenoid cystic carcinoma Polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma Epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma clear-cell adenocarcinoma, not otherwise specified Basal cell adenocarcinoma Sebaceous carcinoma Sebaceous lymphadenocarcinoma Cystadenocarcinoma Low-grade cribriform cystadenocarcinoma Mucinous adenocarcinoma Oncocytic carcinoma Salivary duct carcinoma Salivary duct carcinoma, not otherwise specified Adenocarcinoma, not otherwise specified Myoepithelial carcinoma Carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma Mammary analogue secretory carcinoma Carcinosarcoma Metastasizing pleomorphic adenoma Squamous cell carcinoma Large cell carcinoma Lymphoepithelial carcinoma Sialoblastoma Soft tissue tumours Hemangioma Hematolymphoid tumours Hodgkin lymphoma Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma Extranodal marginal zone B cell lymphoma Secondary tumours (i.e., a tumour which has metastasized to the salivary gland from a distant location) Others, not included in the WHO classification above, include:

Intraosseous (central) salivary gland tumours Hybrid tumours (i.e., a tumour displaying combined forms of histologic tumour types) Hybrid carcinoma Others Keratocystoma Sialolipoma

Treatment Early-stage lesions may be amenable to surgical treatment. More advanced or unresectable cancers tend to be treated with radiotherapy (RT) alone or chemoradiotherapy (CRT), which hampered the comparison of the efficacy of RT alone with that of surgery combined with adjuvant RT. But some effort had been made to reflect the role of surgery in the management of salivary gland tumours.

Treatment may include the following:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Salivary gland tumour

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Salivary gland tumour claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Salivary gland tumour before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Salivary gland tumour ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Salivary gland tumour

In research: Salivary gland tumour appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Salivary gland tumour in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Salivary gland tumour is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Rare cancers, Salivary gland neoplasia, Salivary gland pathology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Salivary gland tumour outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Salivary gland tumour in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Salivary gland tumour means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Salivary gland tumour out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Salivary gland tumour in simple terms?

Salivary gland tumours, or neoplasms, are tumours that form in the tissues of salivary glands. The salivary glands are classified as major or minor.

Why does Salivary gland tumour matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Salivary gland tumour?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Salivary gland tumour.