The glands cannot be seen with imaging methods such as ultrasounds, CT scans or MRIs, according to the study authors?

The study authors assume the function of the tubarial glads is to moisten and lubricate the nasopharynx (connected to the soft palate) and oropharynx (connected to the tongue and throat).

The implications of the study could benefit head and neck cancer patients.

With this discovery, “it should technically be possible to avoid delivering radiation to this newly discovered location of the salivary gland system in the same way we try to spare known glands,” author Wouter Vogel, a radiation oncologist at The Netherlands Cancer Institute, said in a statement.

For this research team, the next step is exploring the treatment implications, including how to spare the new glands from the effects of radiation treatment.