In this study we evaluated the effects of surgical and radiotherapy treatme
nt on local control in 126 patients with malignant tumors of the parotid gl
and. The most frequently observed malignant tumors were high-grade tumors (
68%). Surgical treatment was performed in 81 patients (83.5%). Total conser
vative parotidectomy was the most frequent procedure (74%), and radiotherap
y was performed in 81 patients (83.5%). The global survival rate was approx
imately 54% at 5 years, whereas disease-free survival was 47% at 5 years. N
o statistically significant difference in survival rate was found between c
onservative (52% at 5 years) and radical treatment of the seventh cranial n
erve (43% at 5 years). The Incidence of recurrent cancer was 25.7% (25 of 9
7), of which 88% developed during the first 2 years. We report some of the
clinical and histologic factors that can influence the prognosis of the dis
ease.