Salivary Gland Tumors in Children

Salivary gland tumors are rare and less than 10% of head and neck tumors in children. Understanding these tumors is essential. The purpose of this study was to review the most common salivary gland tumors in children. Using words: tumor, salivary glands and children as keywords, a search was done in Pubmed and Medline and Google sources. Thirty seven articles were selected and studied. Salivary gland tumors are divided into two groups: Benign and malignant. The most common malignant tumors in children are mucoepidermoid carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, undifferentiated carcinoma, acinic cell carcinoma; and mucoepidermoid carcinoma is the most common one and is about 50% of all malignant salivary gland tumors in children. Some benign salivary gland tumors in children and adolescents are poleomorphic adenoma, basal cell adenoma, Wartin tumor, cyst adenoma. Common problem in the control and treatment of salivary glands’ swelling in children is differentiation of inflammatory lesions of the neoplasm. As infection and inflammation in the salivary glands is more common in children than adults, differentiating it from neoplasm in children seems to be essential.