Radiotherapy after surgery for advanced adenoid cystic carcinoma of paranasal sinus

Paranasal–sinus carcinoma and nasal-cavity carcinoma are fairly rare, representing about 3% of aerodigestive malignant disease. Locally advanced lesions are usually managed best by resection and postoperative radiotherapy. In January, 2001, a 55-year-old man with stage T4N0M0 adenoid cystic carcinoma of the nasal cavity and left maxillary sinus involving cavernous sinus, left orbital floor, ethmoid sinus, and the fifth cranial nerve received resection, postoperative interstitial high-dose-rate brachytherapy, and external-beam radiotherapy. Combined treatment was well tolerated and 44 months after finishing radiotherapy, the patient is alive without clinical and radiological evidence of disease at the primary and distant sites.