Cancer of the paranasal sinuses in Germany: Data on incidence and survival from a population-based cancer registry

Purpose

This study aims to provide a broad overview of the epidemiology of cancer of the paranasal sinuses (PSC) in Germany. The data include information on incidence, staging, clinicopathological features and survival from one of the largest cancer registries in Europe.

Methods

Population-based data on PSC diagnosed from January 1st, 2009 until December 31st, 2019 were retrieved from the German Centre for Cancer Registry Data (ZfKD). Age standardized incidence was calculated and relative survival estimates were computed by sex, histological subtype, age group and T-, N-, and M-Stage.

Results

In total, 3975 cases were included in this study. The age-adjusted incidence rate (ASR) for PSC was 0.3/100,000 which remained stable during the observation period. The most frequent tumor localization was the maxillary sinus (41.9 %) and the most common histological subtype was keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (kSCC) (44.3 %). All subtypes were predominantly found in the maxillary sinus except for adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine carcinomas (SNEC), which were most frequently located in the ethmoidal sinus. The majority of the patients with a known T stage was diagnosed in tumor stage T4 (60.8 %). The overall 5-year relative survival (RS) for all patients with PSC was 52 %. RS dropped from 93 % for T1 stage tumors to 39 % for T4 tumors. RS was 58 % for N0 and 31 % for N+ cases, 54 % for M0 and 27 % for M1 cases.

Conclusion

Age-adjusted incidence for PSC is low and has been stable for the observed 11-year period. RS decreases continuously with increasing T-, N- and M-stage.