CANCER OF THE NASAL CAVITY AND PARANASAL SINUSES - A CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY OF 277 PATIENTS

In the period 1963-1991, a total of 277 consecutive patients with mali gnant tumours of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses were treated a t Aarhus University Hospital. The major histological types included sq uamous cell carcinoma (46%), lymphoma (14%), adenocarcinoma (13%), and malignant melanoma (9%). Kaplan-Meier estimates of 5-year corrected s urvival (death from cancer) showed the best prognosis for adenoid cyst ic carcinoma (87%), adenocarcinoma (65%) and lymphoma (56%), and the p oorest prognosis for undifferentiated carcinoma (17%) and malignant me lanoma (24%). The 5-year corrected survival for squamous cell carcinom a was 35%. Of the 180 patients with treatment failure, the vast majori ty occurred locally (n = 166); a minor proportion was regional (n = 23 ) or distant (n = 30). For the 195 patients with carcinoma, the follow ing parameters were of statistical prognostic significance (5-year cor rected survival): histological differentiation (moderate-well 65% vs. poor 22%), primary T-site (nasal cavity 56% vs. maxillary antrum 39% v s. other sinuses 24%), tumour stage (T2 68% vs. T3 37% vs. T4 29%), no dal stage (NO 48% vs. N1-3 21%), treatment (radiotherapy + surgery 56% vs. radiation alone 35%).