There was a significantly higher proportion of cases with CEA positivity in the lymph nodes of tubulopapillary than of mucinous adenocarcinomas (P< 0.03).
The nomogram based on multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that clinical T4 and N2 stages were the most significant independent clinical predictors for not achieving pCR, followed by mucinous adenocarcinoma and positive pre-treatment serum CEA results.
We recommend prospective research to determine whether serum CEA estimation is useful as a component of routine pre-treatment workup for MACs arising from the salivary glands.