The incidence of MYB gene breaks in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary glands and its prognostic significance

Aims: To detect MYB gene breaks in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the salivary glands and its correlation with prognosis and selected clinical parameters Methods: MYB gene break was detected by FISH assay in 23 adenoid cystic carcinomas using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to estimate prognosis. Results: Fifteen of 23 evaluated tumours were MYB positive and 8 MYB negative. The 10-year cumulative survival, respectively disease free interval, was 60.0%, respectively 59.3%, in MYB positive patients and 88.5%, respectively 80.0%, in MYB negative patients (long rank test, P=0.23). There were no significant differences in age, gender, perineural invasion, the presence of hematogenic or nodal metastases or degree of histopathological grading between MYB positive and MYB negative patients. Conclusion: A tendency to differences in the survival of patients with ACC, depending on their MYB status. MYB negative patients were predisposed to better prognosis.