Survival outcomes in sinonasal carcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation: A NCDB analysis

Abstract

BackgroundSinonasal carcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation (SCND) is a rare group of tumors with poor prognosis. Treatment and sequence of therapies are still unclear. The goal of this study is to analyze treatment outcomes in SCND using a national database. MethodsThe National Cancer Database was queried for SCND from 2004 to 2014. Patient demographics, tumor characteristics and treatment paradigms were tabulated. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was performed for statistical analysis of treatment regimen on overall survival (OS). ResultsA total of 415 patients were identified. Most patients were male (61.2%), with a median age of 58 years and the most common primary site was the nasal cavity (52.5%). T4 tumors were observed in 67.7% of cases. Unimodality (41.9%) and bimodality (43.9%) therapies were the most common treatment modalities. Radiation therapy was the only treatment administered in 30% of the patients, while 27.2% received definitive chemoradiation (CRT) and 11.6% had surgery with adjuvant CRT. In our Cox-PH model, age (HR = 1.04, p < 0.001), T4 (HR = 2.6, p = 0.004) and N2/N3 (HR = 2.18, p = 0.001) were associated with worse survival. Trimodality (HR = 0.49, p = 0.005) and bimodality (HR = 0.65, p = 0.009) therapies had a better OS compared to unimodality. Patients treated with definitive CRT or surgery with adjuvant CRT had a significant increase in OS (p = 0.01 and 0.002 respectively). ConclusionSCND appears to be best treated using a multimodality approach with definitive CRT or surgery followed by CRT. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy could be helpful in selecting the best treatment strategy.