| Abstract: | ![]()
Background. Mucosal melanomas of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are rare and do poorly. Methods. Seventeen patients treated from 1981 to 1993 at a single referral center were retrospectively reviewed. Results. Thirteen patients underwent surgical resection, with seven receiving postoperative radiotherapy. Eight had microscopically negative margins. The actuarial 2-year and 5-year survivals for this group of 13 were 67% (8 of 12) and 20% (2 of 10). The local recurrence rate was 85% (11 of 13) and distant metastases occurred in 31% (4 of 13) patients. In the absence of metastatic disease, resection of recurrent tumor correlated with disease-free intervals ranging from 3 months to 40 months. Conclusions. Those who received postoperative radiotherapy appeared to have done better with increased disease-free intervals and prolonged survival. Negative surgical margins were not predictive of a more favorable outcome. Surgical resection followed by postoperative radiotherapy is appropriate and resection of recurrent tumor should be considered. © 1995 Jons Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
