Sinonasal metastatic tumors in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND

To analyze the incidence of the metastatic tumors within sinonasal tract in Taiwan and review the data in the English literature.

METHODS

Retrospective reviewed of patients from 1990 to 2005 with a histologically proven diagnosis of metastatic malignancies in the sinonasal tract.

RESULTS

Among seventeen enrolled patients, 9 were men and 8 were women, with ages ranging from 24 to 76 years old, with a mean of 50.8 years. In order of frequency, sinonasal metastatic tumors originated from the gastrointestinal tract (30%), liver (18%), kidney (18%), breast (18%), thyroid gland (12%) and lung (6%).

CONCLUSION

The incidence and characteristics of metastatic neoplasms in Taiwanese patients are comparable to other countries in East Asia, except for Japan. However, our data are very different when compared with European and North American reports. Different incidences of malignant neoplasms in the primary site may explain the result of different incidences of sinonasal metastatic tumor.