[A case of adenoid cystic carcinoma in the paranasal sinuses with 8-year survival after pulmonary metastasis-- clinicopathological reference to 6 non-squamous cell carcinoma cases in the paranasal sinuses].

Most cases of paranasal sinuses cancer are histologically squamous cell carcinoma. However, adenocarcinoma is rarely found even among cases of submucosal mucous gland origin. As adenocarcinoma has tendencies to local recurrence and distant metastasis, the five-year survival rate of this type of tumor has been reported to be worse than that of squamous cell carcinoma. On the other hand, some investigators insist that the survival rate at 10 or 20 years should be discussed because of the slow-growing nature of this tumor. We report herein clinicopathological studies on six cases of adenocarcinoma of the paranasal sinuses, including one long survivor, a 63-year-old man who lived 11 years and 3 months after the first visit and 8 years after pulmonary metastasis.