Mucinous adenocarcinomas of nose and paranasal sinuses

This study concerns 18 patients with mucinous adenocarcinomas of nose and/or paranasal sinuses. Males in the 5th decade of life predominated in the series. Nasal obstruction, a growing mass in a sinus, or epistaxis were the most frequent complaints. Ten patients had tumors in the maxillary antrum, and the nasal cavity was the site in 5 patients. Histopathologically, the tumors were papillary or solid. The majority of the papillary tumors were moderately to well differentiated, with a few poorly differentiated types. Tumors with the solid pattern of growth were anaplastic; these patients had poorer prognoses. For most patients, treatment consisted of radical surgery alone or in combination with radiotherapy. Of 13 patients for whom survival could be adequately evaluated, 7 died from the tumors, 5 are alive and free of disease more than 4 years, and 1 is living with recurrent tumor 14 months after diagnosis.