Sinonasal adenocarcinoma is a rare primary malignancy treated with surgical resection with or without adjuvant radiotherapy. In this study, we saw that radiation therapy may not have an attributable survival benefit.
Objectives
This study aims to investigate the utility of adjuvant radiation in patients who undergo surgical resection for the management of node-negative sinonasal adenocarcinoma (SNAC).
Study Design
Retrospective database review.
Methods
The 2004–2016 National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) was used to extract patients with surgically resected node-negative SNAC. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and Cox-Proportional Hazards Modelling were used to analyze the impact of adjuvant radiation on overall survival (OS) following surgery.
Results
349 patients with SNAC underwent surgical resection. Of these patients, 154 (44.1%) received adjuvant radiotherapy (RT). Although there was no significant difference in race, age, or sex of those receiving RT, those receiving RT have more advanced diseases and are more likely to have positive margins. Kaplan Meier analysis showed no significant difference in 5-year OS in patient who received adjuvant RT in comparison to those who underwent surgical resection alone (65.7% vs. 72.6%, respectively; p = 0.378). In addition, when looking at only patients with positive margins, 5-year OS still did not have a significant difference (73.8% vs. 61.6%, respectively; p = 0.101). Only patients with clinical AJCC T4 showed a statistically significant survival benefit with adjuvant RT (56.9% vs. 29.9%, respectively; p = 0.009).
Conclusions
Adjuvant RT does not appear to provide a significant survival benefit in patients with resected SNAC, with the exception of those with clinically AJCC T4 disease.
Level of Evidence
4 Laryngoscope, 2023
