Malignant tumors of the sinonasal tract in the pediatric population

Abstract

Conclusion: Sarcoma and lymphoma comprised 75% of 20 cases of pediatric sinonasal malignancies. As regards treatment, all 20 patients received chemotherapy and 6 patients (30%) underwent surgery. The overall 5-year survival rate was 52%, with favorable outcome for solid tumors compared with lymphoma. Objective: We aimed to investigate the clinical features and treatment outcomes of sinonasal malignancies in 20 pediatric patients. Methods: Clinical features were evaluated and tumors were staged according to the staging system for each histologic type. Results: The 20 patients consisted of 12 males and 8 females, ranging in age from 1 to 16 years, with a median age of 9.6 years at diagnosis. More than half of the patients presented with nasal obstruction as the primary symptom, and mean symptom duration to diagnosis was 5.4 months. Primary tumor sites included the paranasal sinuses alone in four patients, the nasal cavity alone in eight, and both in eight. Eight tumors were sarcomas and seven were lymphomas. The remaining tumors included three olfactory neuroblastomas and two primitive neuroectodermal tumors. The main treatment modality was chemotherapy rather than surgery. The overall survival rate was 52%, and patients with solid tumors survived significantly longer than those with lymphoma (p = 0.02).

Keywords::

• Paranasal sinus
• nasal cavity
• malignant neoplasm

Declaration of interest : The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.