Incidence and survival in patients with sinonasal cancer: A historical analysis of population-based data

Background The present study uses population-based data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to evaluate the behavior of sinonasal tumors. Methods Data for all sinonasal malignancies reported between 1973 and 2006 (n = 6739) were extracted from the database. Time-dependent trends in incidence and survival were analyzed by linear regression. Results The overall incidence of sinonasal cancer was 0.556 cases per 100,000 population per year with a male:female ratio of 1.8:1. The most common histologies were squamous cell carcinoma (51.6%) and adenocarcinoma (12.6%), whereas the most common primary sites were the nasal cavity (43.9%) and maxillary sinus (35.9%). The incidence of sinonasal cancer remained relatively stable during the study period. No significant changes in overall relative survival were noted. The best relative survival was noted in patients treated with surgery or a combination of surgery and radiotherapy. Conclusions The prognosis of patients with sinonasal cancer is generally poor, and has not changed substantially over the last 3 decades.