A clinical study on parotid tumors in children and adolescents

In children and adolescents under 20 years of age, tumors of the parotid gland are relatively rare. Six such patients with parotid tumors were treated at Tenri Hospital between 1997 and 2011. There were 5 males and 1 female and the mean age was 12 years. Histologically, pleomorphic adenoma was observed in 5 patients, and rhabdomyosarcoma in 1 patient. Surgery was performed for the 5 pleomorphic adenomas. There were no significant differences in the operating time and intra-operative blood loss among these 5 cases and 144 adult cases. In the case of rhabdomyosarcoma, the 4-year-old patient underwent a total parotidectomy. According to the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study-IV, which was mostly used for the treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma, chemotherapy using vincristine, dactinomycin, and cyclophosphamide was performed as a postoperative treatment. Our patient is currently alive without local recurrence or distant metastasis.