The pathology of head and neck tumors: squamous and mucous-gland carcinomas of the nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, and larynx, part 6.

Carcinomas of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are statistically dominated by squamous-cell lesions, which account for between 85% and 90% of the epithelial malignancies in these sites. Neoplasms of glandular derivation are far less frequent, accounting for between 4% and 8% of carcinomas in this region. Both classes of malignancy, however, indicate an ominous prognosis for their hosts, and for both, it is the extent of the cancer, and hence the clinical stage, that is the major determinant. The clinicopathologic characteristics of squamous-cell and glandular carcinomas of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are presented, and for the latter, a review of their presentation in the larynx is also offered.