Medical Statistics and Potential Causes of Parotid Tumors

After patients get over the initial shock of learning about their parotid tumor diagnosis, they often wonder what causes these tumors to develop, and how common it is to have a parotid tumor.  

In this episode, we will be discussing parotid tumor medical statistics, and the potential causes of these tumors with Dr. Kerry D. Olsen ; a parotid tumor expert with over 40 years of experience. 

Dr. Olsen recently retired from the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota and currently serves as a Director and parotid tumor expert advisor for the Parotid Patient Project. 

Dr. Olsen has provided  parotid patients with exceptional care over the years, and he is here to answer these important questions for patients. 

Are you ready to learn? This episode is for you.

Key Talking Points of the Episode:

·       The incidence rate of parotid tumors for adults

·       The incidence rate of parotid tumors for children

·       The potential causes of parotid tumors

·       Genetic links and parotid tumors

·       Relationship between dental x-rays and parotid tumors

·       Parotid tumors and cell phone usage

·       Viruses and parotid tumors

·       The connection between malignant parotid tumors and other types of cancers

Key Quotes from the Episode:

“The statistics are not as easy to find as one would think because a lot of times some statistics in certain areas are only recorded as salivary gland tumors, some as parotid tumors, and some as benign or malignant, and a lot of times they fail to take into consideration many other parotid diseases.”

 “So, at a minimum, 6 out every 100,000 has a parotid tumor; about five of those are going to be benign; 1 out of the 6 is going to be malignant, but there are many other patients that have parotid problems or pathology.”

“Trying to find associations, causative factors with salivary tumors is very, very challenging because they are not common. They are rare, and most institutions do not have a lot of experience with them.”

“It takes really diligent work and care to try to establish large databases, and that’s why a project like the patient parotid project is so important because that has the capability to bring people together to establish large databases where people are willing to share some of their data to try to look for some of these associations. Is there causal factors that we can find with certain types of tumors that we didn’t recognize before?”

"I think the things that I tell people is it is very unlikely that they did anything to cause their tumor.”

 Connect with Us:

·        Parotid Patient Project

·        Facebook

·        Instagram

·        Twitter

·        Email: [email protected]

 Don’t forget to like and subscribe to the podcast to stay fully up to date!  

As always, know that you are not alone in this journey.