A Case of Complete Remission of Nasal Cavity Poorly Differentiated Carcinoma With Targeted Therapy, to Which Surgery and Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy Was Ineffective

Abstract

Nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancers comprise about 1% of all malignancies, and 5% of head and neck malignancy. Squamous cell carcinoma comprises more than half of nasal cavity cancers. Treatment is determined by considering tumor size, location, staging, age, general condition, purpose of treatment, etc. Conventional therapy includes surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy; however, for the locally advanced, recurrent, or metastatic cancer after conventional therapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapy are taken into consideration. Target therapy attacks specific cancer cells directly, such as cancer cells with certain gene mutation, whereas immunotherapy attacks cancer cells indirectly, stimulating our own immune system, such as T-cell activity. Histologically poorly differentiated carcinomas are treated with surgery, radiotherapy, and sometimes chemotherapy, but 5-year survival rate is low due to frequent recurrence. Here, we present a case of successful targeted therapy applied to recurrent nasal cavity cancer after serial application of conventional therapies.