Preoperative Radiotherapy of Maxillary Sinus Cancer

Kim, Jae Chul; Park, In Kyu

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was to evaluate the effectiveness of preoperative radiotherapy in maxillary sinus cancer.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A retrospective analysis was done for 42 patients with maxillary sinus cancer who were treated with radiation with or without surgery from April 1986 to September 1996. There were 27 male and 15 female patients. Patients' age ranged from 24 to 75 years (median 56 years). Stage distribution showed 2 in T2, 19 in T3, and 21 in T4 lesions. The histologic type was squamous cell carcinoma in 38, undifferentiated carcinoma in 1, transitional cell carcinoma in 1, and adenoid cystic carcinoma in 2 patients. All patients were treated with radiation initially with a dosage range of 50.4-70.2 Gy (median 70.2 Gy) before further evaluation of remnant disease. Eleven patients were given induction chemotherapy (2 cycles of 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin) concurrently with radiotherapy. Six to eight weeks after radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy, computerized tomography (CT) of paranasal sinus was taken to evaluate remnant disease. If the CT finding showed remnant disease, a Caldwell-Luc procedure was done to get the specimen of suspicious lesions. A radical maxillectomy was done if the specimen was proven to contain malignancy. In contrast periodic follow-up examination was done without any radical surgery if the tissue showed only granulation tissue. Follow-up period ranged from 3 to 92 months with a median 16 months.
RESULTS
Nine (21.4%) patients showed complete response (CR) and 33 patients (78.6%) showed persistent disease (PER) to initial radiotherapy. Among the 9 CR patients, 7 patients had no evidence of disease (NED), 1 patient had local failure, and 1 patient had regional failure. Among 33 PER patients, salvage total maxillectomy was done in 10 patients, and the surgery was not feasible or refused in 23 patients. Following the salvage radical surgery, 2 patients were NED and 8 patients were PER status. Overall and disease- free survival rate at 5 years was 23.1% and 16.7%, respectively. The only factors associated with the overall survival rate was the response to radiotherapy (p<0.01).
CONCLUSION
The only factors associated with the overall survival rate was the response to radiotherapy. We could omit a radical mutilating surgery by preoperative irradiation in 7 of 42 patients (21.4%) so as to preserve their facial integrity.