Carcinomas of the paranasal sinuses: a study of sixty-six cases.

The therapy records of 66 patients with carcinomas of the paranasal sinuses were reviewed; primary carcinomas occurred in the maxillary sinus in 50 patients, the ethmoid sinus in 11 patients, the sphenoid sinus in 4 patients and the frontal sinus in 1 patient. The tumors of the maxillary sinus were staged retrospectively according to the American Joint Committee staging system recommended in 1976; 1 of 2 patients with T1, 5 of 11 patients with T2, 10 of 34 patients with T3 and 1 of 3 patients with T4 lesions showed no evidence of disease (NED) at 3 years. Combined high dose irradiation (6,000 rads in 6 weeks) followed by radical surgery in 4 to 6 weeks was well tolerated; this approach is recommended for the treatment of T1, T2, and selected T3-4 maxillary sinus lesions. Only 2 of 11 patients with ethmoid sinus lesions survived at 3 years.