Incidence of Salivary Gland Neoplasms in Greenland with Special Reference to an Anaplastic Carcinoma

Forty-two salivary gland neoplasms were diagnosed in Greenland 1955--1974. Twenty-five cases were malignant of which 92 per cent were an undifferentiated carcinoma, histologically identical to malignant lymphoepithelial lesion. Age adjusted incidence rates for salivary gland carcinomas 1965--1974 were among the highest on record, significantly higher than in Denmark. Prognosis was poor with a 5-year determinate survival rate of 14 per cent. The majority of previously reported malignant lymphoepithelial lesions of salivary glands have occurred in Arctic dwellers in Alaska and Northern Canda. Virus infection and/or dietary deficiencies may be etiological factors. In the present study secondary nasopharyngeal carcinoma could not always be excluded.