Malignant salivary gland tumors of the paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity.

Of a total of 122 patients with minor salivary gland tumors of the nose and paranasal sinuses, 66 patients were identified who had had their therapy at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston. Adenoid cystic carcinomas and adenocarcinomas were the most frequent tumors. Eighty percent of the patients were treated for relatively advanced (T3 and T4) cancers. Low-grade and high-grade carcinomas could be identified in the two groups studied, and the pathologic grading influenced prognosis in addition to the amount of local extent and degree of invasion of the neoplasm. The adequate preoperative documentation of tumor extension is mandatory, and a team effort in the surgical resection is worthwhile. Radiation therapy remains an important adjuvant in this treatment and occasionally has been used effectively as the only modality of treatment.