Adenoid cystic carcinoma, also known as ACC or AdCC, affects thousands of people annually and can harm anybody at any time.
This extremely rare carcinogen is not inherited or associated with alcohol, smoking, ethnicity or infection, but can be treated for anyone who is unfortunately diagnosed. Treatment options and different recommendations are dependent on a number of key factors.
These factors may include anything from the stage of cancer, the patient’s overall health and personal preferences, and possible side effects. This page will cover the best proven adenoid cystic carcinoma treatments currently available. In most cases, a multidisciplinary team will collaborate, which refers to a number of doctors grouping together to formulate the best possible treatment plan for an individual, which may often times involve the combination of different types of treatments.
Surgery
Usually the first option to look at when it comes to adenoid cystic carcinoma treatment is surgery, which simply involves the removal of the tumor and surrounding tissue, also known as a margin. Performed by a surgical oncologist, this is considered the best form of treatment for ACC, while most procedures result in a positive outcome. Each surgery varies based on the patient’s tumor site and margin.
Surgeons will generally examine the nerves to make a conclusion whether they too are involved, considering AdCC is prone to spreading along the nerves. While some cases are treatable, such as with AdCC of the breast, in cases where the tumor is inoperable, other treatment options are recommended.
While it has been noted that this disease is more likely to affect women, the female to male ration is 3 to 2 and often diagnoses those between the ages of forty and sixty.
External-Beam Radiation Therapy
Often times after surgery, external-beam radiation therapy is the most common form of radiation treatment for ACC, which job is to kill any remaining cancerous cells. This type of adenoid cystic carcinoma treatment is not used prior to surgery because it is believed that surgical wounds will heal much better if radiation therapy is not administered before surgery.
A radiation oncologist will perform a series of radiation treatments to a specific area over a given time, where the radiation is administered from a machine outside the body. Proton beam therapy is another type of external-beam radiation therapy which involves the use of protons instead of x-rays.
With more control on the delivery of radiation, proton beam therapy will greatly minimize the amount of damage done to surrounding healthy tissues nonetheless, there hasn’t been enough investigation for the use on AdCC patients and further research is required.
Neutron Radiation Therapy
Another form of radiation therapy is called neutron and proton radiation therapy. This type of adenoid cystic carcinoma treatment has proven to be highly effective and beneficial, where energy is delivered at a much greater intensity creating more damage to the cancerous cells.
This is a great treatment option especially involving recurrent disease or around body parts where it is quite challenging to perform surgery.
Chemotherapy
Despite not usually being used to treat patients with ACC, chemotherapy is yet another treatment option. The reason chemotherapy adenoid cystic treatment is less common is due to the fact that it is less responsive with AdCC than with other cancers. Furthermore, chemotherapy is considered more of an experimental form of therapy for this particular cancer.
Depending on the state of ACC, adenoid cystic carcinoma treatment options will vary. At times survivors feel anxious and uneasy about the possibility that the cancer will return, also known as recurrent cancer. Recurrent cancer can be found in the same area, close to the original place or even in an entirely new body part.
In cases where AdCC has spread to a new body part, this is referred to as metastatic cancer. If any of these occur, then a series of testings will commence and one or a combination of the above-mentioned treatment plans will be considered.
