Craniofacial resection for paranasal sinus cancers

Prognostic factors in sinonasal tumors involving the anterior skull base

BACKGROUND

Anterior craniofacial resection is a standardized procedure for the treatment of ethmoid and frontal orbital tumors with intracranial invasion.

METHODS

A retrospective review of 100 patients with sinonasal tumors involving the anterior skull base who underwent combined craniofacial surgery at the Hospital Central de Asturias.

RESULTS

The most frequent pathologic entity was adenocarcinoma (53 cases) and other epithelial tumors (29 cases). Five-year actuarial survival according to the Kaplan-Meier method was 40%. Factors such as involvement of surgical margins, orbital periosteum involvement, frontal sinus invasion, or spread into the dura had no significant effect on survival. Survival, however, was affected by the histologic findings of the tumor (p=.03), brain involvement (p=.04), deep soft tissue involvement of the orbit (p=.003), involvement of the sphenoid sinus (p=.001), previous treatment (p=.05), and postoperative recurrence (p=.0000). Neither the INT staging system nor the UICC system showed statistical prognostic significance. After multivariate analysis and Cox regression analysis, only recurrence after craniofacial resection, involvement of soft tissues of the orbit, and invasion of the sphenoid sinus significantly influenced survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Standard staging systems did not show statistical prognostic significance. Only involvement of some critical areas was reliable as predictor of an unfavorable outcome.

Craniofacial surgery for malignant skull base tumors: report of an international collaborative study

BACKGROUND

Malignant tumors of the skull base are rare. Therefore, no single center treats enough patients to accumulate significant numbers for meaningful analysis of outcomes after craniofacial surgery (CFS). The current report was based on a large cohort that was analyzed retrospectively by an International Collaborative Study Group.

METHODS

One thousand three hundred seven patients who underwent CFS in 17 institutions were analyzable for outcome. The median age was 54 years (range, 1-98 years). Definitive treatment prior to CFS had been administered in 59% of patients and included radiotherapy in 367 patients (28%), chemotherapy in 151 patients (12%), and surgery in 523 patients (40%). The majority of tumors (87%) involved the anterior cranial fossa. Squamous cell carcinoma (29%) and adenocarcinoma (16%) were the most common histologic types. The margins of surgical resection were reported close/positive in 412 patients (32%). Adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy was received by 510 patients (39%), and chemotherapy was received by 57 patients (4%).

RESULTS

Postoperative complications were reported in 433 patients (33%), with local wound complications the most common (18%). The postoperative mortality rate was 4%. With a median follow-up of 25 months, the 5-year overall, disease-specific, and recurrence-free survival rates were 54%, 60%, and 53%, respectively. The histology of the primary tumor, its intracranial extent, and the status of surgical margins were independent predictors of overall, disease-specific, and recurrence-free survival on multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

CFS is a safe and effective treatment option for patients with malignant tumors of the skull base. The histology of the primary tumor, its intracranial extent, and the status of surgical margins are independent determinants of outcome.