Olfactory Neuroblastoma: Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy for Extensive Disease

Esthesioneuroblastoma presenting with proptosis and bilateral neck metastasis: An unusual presentation

Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) presenting simultaneously with proptosis and bilateral neck metastasis is a very rare presentation. ENB is a rare tumor arising from the olfactory epithelium of the nasal vault which frequently invades the cranial base, cranial vault and orbit. ENB has a bimodal age distribution between 11 and 20 years and between 51 and 60 years. ENB accounts for approximately 1 to 5% of intranasal cancers and no consensus has been reached yet regarding the treatment of this tumor. We are reporting a 17-year-old male patient who presented with right eye proptosis with loss of vision and bilateral neck metastasis. Contrast enhanced computed tomography (CECT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was done which showed Kadish stage C tumor. Nasal biopsy was done to make the diagnosis and the patient was subjected to radiotherapy. Tumor responded to radiotherapy and both the primary lesion and the cervical lymph node metastasis disappeared. The purpose of this study is to report the rare presentation of proptosis along with bilateral cervical lymph node metastasis in this rare sinonasal tumor.

Posttreatment prognosis of patients with esthesioneuroblastoma

OBJECT

There is no Class I evidence to guide the appropriate management of esthesioneuroblastoma (EN). Most data currently guiding treatment come from small- or modest-sized series gathered at individual centers that have concluded that surgery with radiotherapy is the preferred treatment. In this study, the authors summarize the published literature on treatment outcomes in patients with EN. The objective was to ascertain what variables predict prognosis in these patients and to determine the relative effect of different therapies.

METHODS

The authors identified 205 published studies containing treatment outcomes for surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or multimodal treatment. Using Kaplan-Meier analysis, the survival of patients who received surgery was compared with that in those who received surgery and radiotherapy. Additionally, Kadish staging was compared with low- and high-grade Hyams criteria to assess for subgroup prognostic significance in survival differences.

RESULTS

Nine hundred fifty-six patients met the inclusion criteria, with a median follow-up time of 3 years. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated no difference in survival between patients who underwent surgery alone and those who underwent surgery plus radiotherapy at 5 years (78 vs 75%) or 10 years (67 vs 61%, respectively) (p = 0.3). Univariate analysis demonstrated worse survival in cases involving Kadish Grade C tumors, Hyams Grade 3 and 4 tumors, and in patients older than 65 years of age. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that Hyams Grade 3 and 4 lesions carried significant risk (proportional hazard = 4.83, p < 0.001) with 5- and 10-year survival of 47 and 31%.

CONCLUSIONS

A biopsy should always be obtained in cases suspected of EN because histology is a strong prognostic indicator and will help guide appropriate treatment. Unimodal surgery and combined surgery/radiotherapy appear to be of equivalent efficacy with respect to survival in patients with EN. Chemotherapy should be considered in high-grade EN.

Esthesioneuroblastoma treated with non-craniofacial resection surgery followed by combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy: An alternative approach in limited resources

BACKGROUND

Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) is a rare and aggressive malignant tumor arising from olfactory epithelium. Surgical excision in the form of craniofacial surgical resection (CFR) has shown encouraging results. The purpose of the study is to analyze the outcome of this disease when managed by non-craniofacial resection (NCFR) surgery in limited resources.

METHODS

Between October 1998 and January 2004, eight patients with ENB were treated in the Department of Radiotherapy at KGMU, Lucknow. None of these eight patients underwent CFR surgery. All patients received six cycles of vincristine, adriamycin and cyclophosphamide (VAC) based chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy.

RESULTS

All the patients registered during this period had undergone operative procedures in the form of NCFR surgery except two. Complete response was present in five (62.5%) patients and three (37.5%) patients had partial response. Locoregional relapse-free survival at 3 years was 62.5% and median survival time was 38 months. Disease-free survival and overall survival at 3 years was 72.9 and 71.4%, respectively, and median disease-free survival time was 43 months, while mean overall survival time was 40.7 months as median overall survival time was not reached.

CONCLUSION

Patients in developing countries often present with advanced stages and because of non-availability of technical advances and surgical expertise one tends to approach these patients with palliative intent. Most of the patients in our series were of stage C disease (75%) and still our response rate and survival were encouraging despite the fact that surgery was not optimal. This combination chemoradiotherapy schedule can be used outside the protocol setting where resources are limited.

Surgical treatment of neuroblastoma

Nine patients with neuroblastoma were surgically treated and postoperatively followed up. Of the 9 cases, 8 survived well while the other one died of extensive metastasis within cranium 2 years after the operation. One patient had stayed alive for over 12 years.

Esthesioneuroblastoma: case report

Esthesioneuroblatoma (ENB) is a rare tumor arising from the olfactory epithelium of the nasal vault which frequently invades the cranial base, cranial vault and orbit. ENB has a bimodal age distribution between 11 and 20 years and between 51 and 60 years. ENB accounts for approximately 1 to 5% of intranasal cancers and no consensus has been reached regarding treatment of this tumor. We report on a 66 year old female patient with a Kadish stage C tumor with frontal lobe invasion submitted a total craniofacial resection with a combined head neck and neurosurgeon team. The purpose of this study is to analyze the natural history, treatment and prognosis of this tumor, based on the literature review.

Esthesioneuroblastoma: the Johns Hopkins experience

BACKGROUND

Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) is an uncommon malignant neoplasm of the upper nasal cavity. Therapeutic management approaches for this neoplasm lack uniformity and there is no universally accepted staging system.

METHODS

A retrospective review of 27 patients with histologically confirmed ENB managed at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

RESULTS

Eighty-five percent of patients had surgical resection as part of their disease management. Complete surgical resection was achieved in 62% of patients who had a craniofacial resection. Eighty percent of patients with negative surgical margins remain with no evidence of disease, with a median follow-up of 5.6 years. Adjuvant radiation therapy was beneficial to 62% of patients with positive surgical margins. Clinical responses were observed with cisplatin- and etoposide-containing chemotherapy regimens in patients with advanced disease. A revised staging system based on our experience is proposed.

CONCLUSIONS

ENB is best managed by craniofacial resection with complete tumor resection. Adjuvant radiation therapy is warranted in patients that remain with positive histologic margins of resection. Chemotherapy with cisplatin- and etoposide-containing regimens may be useful for palliation of advanced disease.

Esthesioneuroblastoma in the pediatric age-group: the role of chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation

Esthesioneuroblastoma, a malignant neoplasm arising from olfactory epithelium, is unusual in the pediatric age-group. Management has traditionally involved surgery and radiotherapy, alone or in combination, with chemotherapy reserved for recurrent or high grade disease. We report a single institution experience utilizing chemotherapy and radiotherapy as the initial treatment and successful control of the primary tumor in two patients. In one patient, neck dissection and high dose chemotherapy combined with autologous bone marrow transplantation were used as successful salvage therapy of neck metastasis. Both patients are alive and disease free with a mean follow-up of 56 months. These results support the role of chemotherapy in the treatment of esthesioneuroblastoma and suggest that chemotherapy be used as part of the initial combined modality treatment plan.

Esthesioneuroblastomas with intracranial extension. Proliferative potential and management

A total of 15 patients with esthesioneuroblastomas were treated between 1978 and 1992 at the Neurosurgery Department, Nordstadt Hospital, Hannover. In 9 cases, the tumors invaded the anterior cranial fossa. One patient died before any surgical intervention. Eight tumors were operated by a combined paranasal and subfrontal approach. Gross total tumor removal was achieved in all cases. Apart from anosmia, the only postoperative complication was transient mental changes in one case. Immunohistochemical analyses with MIB 1 monoclonal antibodies, directed against recombinant parts of Ki-67 antigen, were performed to estimate the proliferative potential of the esthesioneuroblastomas. Most of the tumors showed high proliferating cell indexes, which ranged from 3 to 42% (mean, 16%). The proliferating cell index with MIB 1 showed a correlation with postoperative outcome, although this was not statistically significant. Esthesioneuroblastomas can be totally removed surgically. The proliferating cell index may reflect histologically the biological behavior of tumor. Long-term follow-up is mandatory, and immunohistochemical studies may be of help in predicting outcome.

Chemotherapy for cranial base tumors

The tumors I will discuss in this chapter on chemotherapy will be ethesioneuroblastoma, salivary gland tumors, chordoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Due basically to the rarity of these lesions, with the exception of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, there have been no multi-institutional studies of chemotherapy use reported in the literature. As a result, there is no clear-cut consensus on the standard of care as it relates to chemotherapy for these tumors. As with most authors who have previously reviewed these tumor types, I believe it is important for us to propose protocols of therapy and test these in arenas where we can accumulate enough patients for meaningful results. In this way, we can test the apparently active agents and combinations in relapsed or extensive disease. We might also begin to explore concurrent therapy (i.e., concurrent radiation and chemotherapy after the surgical procedure, for example).

High dose level radiation therapy for local tumour control in esthesioneuroblastoma

Esthesioneuroblastoma is an uncommon tumour of neural crest origin arising in the nasal cavity. This paper is a retrospective review of 7 patients with esthesioneuroblastoma treated at a single institution from May 1974 to July 1990. 5 patients were treated with radiation therapy alone and 2 patients were irradiated after surgical resection. No local or regional occurrence was observed in any patient at 6 months, or at 1, 3, 6, 11.5 and 12 years following treatment. One patient died of intercurrent disease 6 years after radiation therapy. 2 patients died of disease, 1 of distant metastasis at 6 months and the other patient of meningeal carcinomatosis and distant metastases 1 year after treatment. One patient is alive with distant metastases 1 year after treatment. None of the patients experienced significant complications of irradiation. High-dose irradiation (60 Gy or more) alone or in combination with resection is an effective local treatment modality for esthesioneuroblastoma.