Patterns and incidence of neural invasion in patients with cancers of the paranasal sinuses.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize the incidence and pattern of neural invasion (NI) in patients with cancers of the paranasal sinuses and anterior skull base.


METHODS
Retrospective study.


METHODS
A tertiary referral cancer center.


METHODS
The study included 208 patients with cancer of the paranasal sinuses. Patients with brain invasion or neurogenic tumors were excluded.


METHODS
Analysis of clinical and pathologic data on patients with cancer of the paranasal sinuses.


RESULTS
Forty-one specimens (20%) had evidence of NI. Sinonasal undifferentiated, adenoid cystic, and squamous cell carcinoma had a high propensity for NI, whereas melanoma and sarcoma rarely invaded nerves. Intraneural invasion was found in 32% of these cases, and 34% invaded more than 1 cm distal to the tumor. Neural invasion was associated with a high rate of positive margins, maxillary origin, and previous surgical treatment (P < .04) but not with stage, orbital invasion, or dural invasion. Patients with NI were more likely to undergo adjuvant radiotherapy (P = .003), which significantly improved survival in patients with minor salivary gland carcinomas (P = .04). Multivariate analysis showed that pathologic evidence of NI was not an independent predictor of outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
Paranasal carcinomas have high propensity for NI, whereas melanoma and sarcoma rarely invade nerves. Patterns of NI include both perineural and intraneural invasion. Neural invasion is associated with positive margins, maxillary origin, and previous surgery.
Gil
Ziv
Z
Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA. ziv@baseofskull.org
Carlson
Diane L
DL
Gupta
Amar
A
Lee
Nancy
N
Hoppe
Bradford
B
Shah
Jatin P
JP
Kraus
Dennis H
DH
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology; D003528:Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic / Q000473:pathology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D010255:Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019292:Skull Base Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology