LYMPH-NODE AND DISTANT METASTASES IN PATIENTS WITH SINONASAL CARCINOMA

A retrospective analysis of 34 cases of sine-nasal squamous cell or un differentiated carcinoma in patients admitted between 1984 and 1992 wa s undertaken. Multimodality therapy incorporated radiation, surgery an d chemotherapy. The five-year survival rate was 53 per cent. The local control rate was 82 per cent. Patients died of local failure (six), d istant metastases (six), lymph node metastases (one) and other causes (three). Twenty-eight patients with local control were separated into groups: G1-2 (well and moderately differentiated) and G3-4 (poorly dif ferentiated and undifferentiated) and evaluated to find the associatio n between differentiation and metastasis. Lymph node metastasis was no t related to the degree of differentiation. Distant metastasis was sig nificantly related to the degree of differentiation (Fisher's exact te st: p = 0.007). The result of the combination therapy is poor for pati ents with poorly differentiated or undifferentiated carcinoma because of distant metastases. Adjuvant chemotherapy may be necessary for them to prevent distant metastasis.