Non-Cochrane · intervention · PM42091689
Postoperative radiotherapy versus postoperative radiochemotherapy after surgery of salivary gland cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Wilhelmy Anja, Schlattmann Peter, Guntinas-Lichius Orlando · Scientific reports · 2026 · PubMed · doi:10.1038/s41598-026-52018-4
Findings
23 findings
| Population | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Xu 2021 | HR 1.065 [0.998, 1.137] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Torabi 2020 | HR 1.062 [0.995, 1.135] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Meta-regression: Publication year (per year) | Regression coefficient -0.024 [-0.048, 0.0021] GRADE not reported 11 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Kang 2022 | HR 1.074 [1.004, 1.149] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Amini 2016 | HR 1.040 [0.969, 1.116] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Meta-regression: Proportion of T4 tumors in the total study cohort | Regression coefficient 0.0143 [0.001, 0.028] GRADE not reported 6 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Gordon 2023 | HR 1.095 [1.020, 1.176] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Common effect model (primary analysis) | HR 1.065 [0.998, 1.137] GRADE not reported 11 studies · 26612 participants |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Yan 2024 | HR 1.074 [0.996, 1.159] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Cheraghlou 2018 | HR 1.081 [1.002, 1.167] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Meta-regression: proportion of T4 tumors, HR per 10% change | HR 1.154 [1.014, 1.314] GRADE not reported 6 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Tanvetyanon 2016 | HR 1.046 [0.978, 1.119] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Zhang 2023 | HR 1.061 [0.994, 1.133] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Onderdonk 2020 | HR 1.064 [0.997, 1.136] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Random-effects model (REML, Hartung-Knapp) | HR 1.087 [0.985, 1.200] GRADE not reported 11 studies · 26612 participants |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Leave-one-out sensitivity analysis omitting Qiu 2024 | HR 1.064 [0.996, 1.136] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Meta-regression: Ratio of N+ in PORCT/PORT | Regression coefficient -0.059 [-0.13, 0.017] GRADE not reported 6 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Meta-regression: Ratio of T4 in PORCT/PORT | Regression coefficient -0.016 [-0.64, 0.61] GRADE not reported 4 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Meta-regression: Proportion of mucoepidermoid carcinoma in the total study cohort | Regression coefficient -0.0003 [-0.012, 0.011] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Meta-regression: Proportion of T3/4 tumors in the total study cohort | Regression coefficient 0.003 [-0.004, 0.009] GRADE not reported 10 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Limit meta-analysis adjusted for small-study effects (random effects) | HR 1.040 [0.921, 1.174] GRADE not reported 11 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery (National Cancer Database studies) | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Studies using National Cancer Database data | HR 1.05 GRADE not reported 5 studies |
| Adults (18 years or older) with primary salivary gland cancer after curative surgery (studies not using National Cancer Database data) | Postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | Postoperative radiotherapy alone (PORT) | Overall survival Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years across studies · Studies not using National Cancer Database data | HR 1.2 GRADE not reported 6 studies |
Included primary studies 11
Open in Studies| Study | Year | Also included by | Outcomes it informs here | Trial data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amini 2016 Association of Adjuvant Chemoradiotherapy vs Radiotherapy Alone With Survival in Patients With Resected Major Salivary Gland Carcinoma:… PMID:27541166 | 2016 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
| Cheraghlou 2018 Adjuvant therapy in major salivary gland cancers: Analysis of 8580 patients in the National Cancer Database. PMID:29756412 | 2018 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
| Gordon 2023 Adoption of adjuvant chemotherapy in high-risk salivary gland malignancies. PMID:36245302 | 2023 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
| Kang 2022 No survival benefit from adding chemotherapy to adjuvant radiation in advanced major salivary gland cancer. PMID:36460788 | 2022 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
| Onderdonk 2020 Adjuvant treatment for high-risk salivary gland malignancies and prognostic stratification based on a 20-year single institution experience. PMID:33043152 | 2020 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
| Qiu 2024 Platinum-based adjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus adjuvant radiotherapy in patients with head and neck adenoid cystic carcinoma. PMID:38625410 | 2024 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
| Tanvetyanon 2016 Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy versus with radiotherapy alone for locally advanced salivary gland carcinoma among older patients. PMID:26340707 | 2016 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
| Torabi 2020 Multi-modality Treatment and Survival in Sinonasal Minor Salivary Gland Tumors. PMID:32206540 | 2020 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
| Xu 2021 Outcome of Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of Head and Neck After Postoperative Intensity Modulation Radiotherapy: A Single Institution Study. PMID:33758540 | 2021 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
| Yan 2024 Timing of postoperative radiation therapy for major salivary gland cancers. PMID:38864240 | 2024 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
| Zhang 2023 Clinical value of adjuvant therapy on the prognosis of ductal carcinoma of the major salivary gland: a large-scale cohort study. PMID:36036273 | 2023 | this review only | Overall survival | not extracted yet |
Review question
| Element | Planned (methods) | Found (results) |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Adults (18 years or older) with malignant primary salivary gland cancer | Adults with salivary gland cancer (n=26,612) |
| Intervention | Primary surgery with curative intent followed by postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) | PORT (n=11 studies) |
| Comparison | Primary surgery with curative intent followed by postoperative radiochemotherapy (PORCT) | PORCT (n=11 studies) |
| Outcomes | Overall survival (hazard ratio); treatment toxicity | Overall survival pooled (n=11); toxicity described narratively (n=4) |
| Study designs | Retrospective and prospective cohort studies, case series and RCTs | Retrospective cohort studies (n=11) |
| Timing | Not specified | Median follow-up 3.3 to 6.9 years where reported |