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Paranasal Sinus and Nasal Cavity Cancer Treatment (PDQ®): Treatment - Health Professional Information [NCI]
The majority of tumors of the paranasal sinuses present with advanced disease, and cure rates are generally poor (=50%). Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most frequent type of malignant tumor in the nose and paranasal sinuses (70%–80%). Papillomas are distinct entities that may undergo malignant degeneration. The cancers grow within the bony confines of the sinuses and are often asymptomatic until they erode and invade adjacent structures.[1,2,3]
Pretreatment evaluation and staging, as well as the need for multidisciplinary planning of treatment, is very important. Generally, the first opportunity to treat patients with head and neck cancers is the most effective, though occasionally salvage surgery or salvage radiation therapy, as appropriate, may be successful. Since most treatment failures occur within 2 years, the follow-up of patients must be frequent and meticulous during this period. In addition, because nearly 33% of these patients develop second primary cancers in the aerodigestive tract, a lifetime of follow-up is essential.
Nodal involvement is infrequent. Although metastases from both the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses may occur, and distant metastases are found in 20% to 40% of patients who do not respond to treatment, locoregional recurrence accounts for the majority of cancer deaths since most patients die of direct extension into vital areas of the skull or of rapidly recurring local disease.
Cancers of the maxillary sinus are the most common of the paranasal sinus cancers. Tumors of the ethmoid sinuses, nasal vestibule, and nasal cavity are less common, and tumors of the sphenoid and frontal sinuses are rare.
The major lymphatic drainage route of the maxillary antrum is through the lateral and inferior collecting trunks to the first station submandibular, parotid, and jugulodigastric nodes and through the superoposterior trunk to retropharyngeal and jugular nodes.
Some data indicate that various industrial exposures may be related to cancer of the paranasal sinus and nasal cavity. The risk of a second primary head and neck tumor is considerably increased.[4] A subgroup has shown that paranasal sinus and nasal cavity SCC are associated with human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and that HPV-positive patients may have a better prognosis than those who are HPV-negative.[5]
References:
- Mendenhall W, Werning J, Pfister D, et al.: Treatment of head and neck cancers. In: DeVita VT Jr, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA, eds.: Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. Vols. 1 & 2. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008, pp 809-77.
- Laramore GE, ed.: Radiation Therapy of Head and Neck Cancer. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1989.
- Thawley SE, Panje WR, Batsakis JG, et al., eds.: Comprehensive Management of Head and Neck Tumors. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders, 1999.
- Johns ME, Kaplan MJ: Advances in the management of paranasal sinus tumors. In: Wolf GT, ed.: Head and Neck Oncology. Boston, Mass: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1984, pp 27-52.
- Alos L, Moyano S, Nadal A, et al.: Human papillomaviruses are identified in a subgroup of sinonasal squamous cell carcinomas with favorable outcome. Cancer 115 (12): 2701-9, 2009.
Purpose of This Summary
This PDQ cancer information summary for health professionals provides comprehensive, peer-reviewed, evidence-based information about the treatment of paranasal sinus and nasal cavity cancer. It is intended as a resource to inform and assist clinicians who care for cancer patients. It does not provide formal guidelines or recommendations for making health care decisions.
Reviewers and Updates
This summary is reviewed regularly and updated as necessary by the PDQ Adult Treatment Editorial Board. Board members review recently published articles each month to determine whether an article should:
- be discussed at a meeting,
- be cited with text, or
- replace or update an existing article that is already cited.
Changes to the summaries are made through a consensus process in which Board members evaluate the strength of the evidence in the published articles and determine how the article should be included in the summary.
The lead reviewers for Paranasal Sinus and Nasal Cavity Cancer Treatment are:
- James P. Neifeld, MD (Medical College of Virginia Hospital & Virginia Commonwealth University)
- Minh Tam Truong, MD (Boston University Medical Center)
Any comments or questions about the summary content should be submitted to Cancer.gov through the Web site's Contact Form. Do not contact the individual Board Members with questions or comments about the summaries. Board members will not respond to individual inquiries.
Levels of Evidence
Some of the reference citations in this summary are accompanied by a level-of-evidence designation. These designations are intended to help readers assess the strength of the evidence supporting the use of specific interventions or approaches. The PDQ Adult Treatment Editorial Board uses a formal evidence ranking system in developing its level-of-evidence designations.
Permission to Use This Summary
PDQ is a registered trademark. Although the content of PDQ documents can be used freely as text, it cannot be identified as an NCI PDQ cancer information summary unless it is presented in its entirety and is regularly updated. However, an author would be permitted to write a sentence such as "NCI's PDQ cancer information summary about breast cancer prevention states the risks succinctly: [include excerpt from the summary]."
The preferred citation for this PDQ summary is:
National Cancer Institute: PDQ® Paranasal Sinus and Nasal Cavity Cancer Treatment. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute. Date last modified <MM/DD/YYYY>. Available at: http://cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/paranasalsinus/HealthProfessional. Accessed <MM/DD/YYYY>.
Images in this summary are used with permission of the author(s), artist, and/or publisher for use within the PDQ summaries only. Permission to use images outside the context of PDQ information must be obtained from the owner(s) and cannot be granted by the National Cancer Institute. Information about using the illustrations in this summary, along with many other cancer-related images, is available in Visuals Online, a collection of over 2,000 scientific images.
Disclaimer
Based on the strength of the available evidence, treatment options may be described as either "standard" or "under clinical evaluation." These classifications should not be used as a basis for insurance reimbursement determinations. More information on insurance coverage is available on Cancer.gov on the Coping with Cancer: Financial, Insurance, and Legal Information page.
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Last Revised: 2011-02-04
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