Objective: To study the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of sinonasal neuroendocrine carcinoma.
Method: Eight patients with sinonasal neuroendocrine carcinoma from February 2009 to February 2012 were retrospectively analyzed and the related literatures were reviewed.
Result: There were seven males and one female. Three cases were treated by surgery only, one case received surgery followed by radiotherapy, and four cases were treated by combined treatment (surgery followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy). There were three patients with a primary tumor originating from the maxillary sinus, two cases died after 8 and 14 months, another patient was survived in 10 months of follow-up, and the carcinomas did not recur. There were five patients with primary neuroendocrine carcinoma from the nasal cavity, one patient recurred after the surgery and after radiotherapy, the patient did not recur after 20 months of follow-up, and the other four patients did not recur, in 13, 20, 27 and 28 months of follow-up.
Conclusion: Neuroendocrine carcinomas of the sinuses are rare malignant tumors. Neuroendocrine carcinomas cases with the lesions at different sites differ in the clinical manifestations and prognosis, pathology, immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy, It should be differentiated from poorly differentiated squamous carcinoma melanoma, olfactory nerve blastoma and neurospongioma. The key to improve the survival rate of the disease is early accurate diagnosis and combined treatment.