To determine the clinical effect of post-operative radiotheraphy and systemic chemotherapy for the treatment of salivary duct carcinoma.

Retrospective review.

The medical records of 26 patients treated by surgery with or without radiotheraphy and/or systemic chemotherapy for salivary duct carcinoma were retrospectively reviewed to investigate the role of post-operative adjuvant treatment for the patients' prognosis.

The overall three-year and five-year survival rates were 54 and 48.1 per cent, respectively. There was no correlation with the clinical stage and the patients' prognosis. The overall three-year survival of the patients with or without post-operative radiotheraphy was 64 and 33 per cent, respectively (p = 0.29). The overall three-year survival of the patients with or without post-operative chemotherapy was 53 and 56 per cent, respectively (p = 0.78).

Post-operative adjuvant therapy did not improve the patients' overall prognosis with salivary duct carcinoma. Developing novel treatment modalities may be necessary to improve the prognosis of this aggressive disease.