A prognosis is a prediction of the outcome of one’s disease. How likely is survival? Will the cancer come back? These are the big questions on most people’s minds after receiving a diagnosis of sinonasal cancer. In general, there are several characteristics of the tumor that can inform a patient about their chances of being cured.
Factors That Affect Prognosis
Stage
This is the most important factor that affects a patient’s chance of being cured.
Site
The location and extent of the tumor in the nasal and/or sinus cavity can affect the surgeon’s ability to resect the tumor with adequate margins of healthy tissue around it.
Type and Grade
Both the type and grade of the tumor determine the amount of treatment necessary and the ultimate prognosis.
Spread to Lymph Nodes
This helps determine stage, but even without other factors, spread to lymph nodes in the neck decreases the chance of cure, especially if there is evidence of growth of cancer outside of the lymph node.
Tumor Margins
The ability to completely remove the tumor with a margin of normal tissue around it is a very important factor in a patient’s prognosis.
While each of these factors contributes to one’s outcome, patients should have a discussion with their doctor to determine their overall prognosis. Giving a percentage of survival is challenging because cancer research often looks at multiple types of cancer and may include a large range of patients who underwent a variety of treatments.
Survival Rates for Patients with Cancers of the Nose, Nasal Cavity & Middle Ear
According to SEER data, cancers of the nose, nasal cavity and middle ear are grouped together for survival analysis.
Localized (confined to the primary site)
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
83%
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 10 Years
77%
Regional (spread to nearby lymph nodes)
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
47%
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 10 Years
38%
Distant (spread to another part of the body)
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
25%
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 10 Years
22%
Survival Rates for Patients with Cancer of the Paranasal Sinuses
Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
36%
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 10 Years
31%
Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma
Survival Rates for Patients with Cancer
61%
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 10 Years
45%
Adenocarcinoma
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
51%
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 10 Years
48%
Other
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
48%
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 10 Years
38%
Total
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
42%
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 10 Years
35%
Survival Rates for Patients with All Types of Sinonasal Cancers by Stage
Stage I
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
63%
Stage II
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
61%
Stage III
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
50%
Stage IV
Estimated Disease-Specific Survival at 5 Years
36%
Specifically for mucosal melanoma of the nasal and sinus cavities, a few studies have looked at prognosis and found it to be quite poor. In one recent study based on SEER data, it was found that the disease-specific survival was 32% at 5 years and 19% at 10 years. This study also found that tumors of the oral cavity and nasal cavity had slightly better survival as compared with mucosal melanoma tumors in the nasopharynx and paranasal sinuses.
Disclaimer: Estimated Disease-Specific Survival is the percentage of people with a specific cancer who are alive at a given time point, such as five years after diagnosis. It excludes people who may have died from a disease other than their cancer. While these estimates from large national databases are helpful, it is important to remember that these broad statistics may not apply to one’s individual situation.
