Sinonasal mucosal malignant melanoma: report of an unusual case mimicking schwannoma

Sinonasal Melanoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

Purpose. Sinonasal malignant mucosal melanoma is a rare, aggressive tumour. Nasal obstruction and epistaxis are the most commonly reported symptoms, although symptomatology may develop late and be nonspecific, which tends to delay diagnosis, resulting in a poorer prognosis. Case Report. This report describes a 64-year-old male patient with nasal obstruction and epistaxis. Computed tomography of the facial sinuses revealed a large lesion in the right nasal cavity, with infiltration into the left cavity, ethmoidal cells, and erosion of the cribriform plate. Initial incisional biopsy revealed an undifferentiated carcinoma of the right maxillary sinus, staged as T4aN0M0. Induction chemotherapy was initiated with cisplatin and etoposide. Response to treatment was complete. The patient was then submitted to radiotherapy with concomitant cisplatin. Immunochemical analysis revealed positivity for vimentin, S100, and HMB-45 (human melanoma black 45), a result compatible with a diagnosis of malignant melanoma. Discussion. Due to the rarity of the tumour and the patient's complete response to chemotherapy and since no blackened lesion had been found at the previous exam, treatment was continued as planned. The patient remains healthy, with no metastasis or recurrence. He is currently being monitored by the clinical oncology team.

Survival in Sinonasal Melanoma: A Meta-analysis

Sinonasal melanoma is an uncommon tumor which carries a poor prognosis and high rates of local and regional recurrence and distant metastasis. While surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment, the utility of multimodality therapy has not been well studied or established. We sought to better evaluate the optimal treatment modality for sinonasal melanoma. We reviewed 39 case reports involving 423 patients with sinonasal melanoma and present a meta-analysis comparing survival by treatment modality. The two-tailed p-value for survival by treatment modality was determined. The number of primary site/local, regional, and distant recurrences was determined where data was available. There was a nonsignificant increase in survival for patients treated with surgery + radiotherapy versus surgery alone. There was a statistically significant increase in survival for surgery + chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone and versus surgery alone. Patients treated with combined surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy had a statistically shorter survival interval than patients treated with surgery + chemotherapy, which may reflect more advanced disease in patients treated with triple therapy. There was no statistically significant increase in survival found for the addition of radiation to surgery. This meta-analysis demonstrates that multimodality therapy, particularly the addition of chemo-or immunotherapy to surgery, may increase survival in a subset of patients. Radiation therapy did not appear to increase survival. There may be a significant increase in overall survival with combined modality therapy with surgery and chemo/immunotherapy versus single modality therapy.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

III. Grade of recommendation: C.

Outcome of sinonasal melanoma: clinical experience and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Primary sinonasal malignant melanoma (SNMM) is a rare clinical entity. There is neither a classification nor a staging system nor an evidence-based treatment concept established. Our objective was to find potential risk factors predicting the outcome.

METHODS

Twenty-five patients with histologically confirmed SNMM were consecutively included and retrospectively analyzed. Staging methods were nasal endoscopy, CT, MRI, and positron emission tomography (PET) scan. Patients were selected for a curative or palliative concept. All patients had postoperative follow-up with control-MRI at 3 and 6 months. Restaging was performed when local recurrence occurred.

RESULTS

Nineteen patients underwent primary surgery with curative intention; in 16 cases with tumor free margins. Thirteen patients (68%) had transnasal endoscopic surgery, 4 lateral rhinotomy, and 2 transfacial approach with orbital exenteration. Six patients (32%) had palliative therapy and 7 patients (37%) had adjuvant radiotherapy. Despite radical operations, 6 patients (37%) showed local recurrence and 8 patients (50%) developed distant metastasis. In 2 patients with incomplete surgery, regional metastasis was noted. The median disease-free interval was 18 months, and the median overall survival rate was 23 months.

CONCLUSION

SNMMs of the ethmoid and maxillary sinuses have a worse prognosis than other localizations in the nasal cavity; infiltration into the skull base, orbit, or facial soft tissue correlates with a very poor outcome corresponding to the palliative situations. Furthermore, local recurrence insinuates aggressive disease with short survival rate. A main difference from its cutaneous counterpart seems to be a primary tendency to hematogenic spread. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.

Sinonasal mucosal melanomas

OBJECTIVES

Sinonasal mucosal melanomas account for approximately 1% of all melanomas. These tumors are particularly aggressive, with a recurrence rate between 37 and 54% and a 5-year survival rate between 20 and 46%. Metastases are frequent. The main objective of this study was to analyze all of our cases of sinonasal mucosal melanomas and determine any prognostic factors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

All our cases of sinonasal mucosal melanoma over a period of 10 years were included. Ten cases were analyzed. The mean age was 71 years (range: 61-85 years) for seven women and three men. The clinical, radiological, anatomopathological, and surgical data as well as the characteristics of disease progression were analyzed. These data were compared to those reported in the literature.

RESULTS

The mean follow-up was 36.3 months (range: 2-96 months). The 5-year overall survival was 40%. Seven patients developed local recurrences after a mean follow-up of 16 months (range: 2-27 months) with associated metastases in three cases. Analysis of the prognostic factors showed that tumors classified as T1 and limited to the nasal fossae had a better prognosis.

CONCLUSION

Sinonasal mucosal melanomas are rare tumors with a high mortality rate. Treatment of these tumors requires extensive surgical treatment associated with external radiotherapy.

[Primary malignant melanoma of the nasal cavity presenting as a large tumor of the cheek]

INTRODUCTION

Malignant melanoma of the nasal cavity is a rare tumor usually causing unilateral nasal obstruction and nasal bleeding. Diagnosis is achieved with immunohistochemistry analysis. Surgery is proposed for curative treatment.

CASE REPORT

We report the case of a 60-year-old man with a malignant melanoma of the nasal cavity revealed by an important tumor of the cheek. Epistaxis and nasal obstructive syndrome occurred later. Because of the tumor stage, palliative chemotherapy was performed but the patient died 4 months after the diagnosis.

DISCUSSION

This clinical presentation of malignant melanoma of the nasal cavity, related to local spreading, is exceptional. CT scan and MRI are essential for tumor staging and therapeutic decision-making. Prognosis remains poor.

Malignant epithelioid cranial nerve sheath tumor: case report of a radiation response

Malignant epithelioid nerve sheath tumors (MESs) especially those involving intracranial cranial nerves are rare and thought to be radioresistant. We report a case of a MES involving the Vth and VIIth cranial nerves responsive to radiotherapy. A 41-year-old man with progressive left facial weakness underwent an MRI that disclosed an enhancing lesion involving both V3 cranial nerve and the distal VIIth nerve. Biopsy confirmed a malignant epithelioid schwannoma. The tumor was resected but residual tumor was present at the cut end of the infraorbital nerve, within the oral cavity and at the brainstem. Positive excision margins were irradiated to 60 Gy/30 fractions by a wedge pair technique extending from the inferior orbit to C2. Tumor was controlled for 38 months and then radiographic recurrence was resected from the infratemporal fossa outside the irradiated field.A new primary MES tumor developed at 69 months at the C1/C2 root levels at the lower edge of the previously irradiated field. It was subtotally resected but by 77 months residual tumor had grown inferiorly down to C5 so this area was re-irradiated with a complicated 7-field approach to spare spinal cord. Initially the tumor responded but ultimately progressed posteriorly where radiation dose was limited by spinal cord tolerance. New involvement of the Xth cranial nerve was noted. The patient expired from brainstem compression 7 years after initial radiotherapy. The long-term control of the original tumor despite positive margins argues for the use of radiotherapy in the treatment of these tumors.

Epithelioid malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor involving maxillary sinus

We present a case of epithelioid malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) located in the maxillary sinus region in a young man. The clinical history was short, but at admission the neoplastic infiltration was so extensive that only diagnostic biopsy was performed. The patient received palliative treatment and died 6 months later. Histologically, the neoplasm had a predominant epithelioid component. Neoplastic tissue was vimentin, S-100, Cam 5.2 and neuron-specific enolase positive. P53 protein reaction was found in 6% of the cells and the proliferation index assessed with Ki-67 was 52%. An appropriate immunohistochemical panel was essential for the final diagnosis of this epithelioid malignant tumor, with the location rather unusual for MPNST.

Niedrig-maligne periphere Nervenscheidentumoren der Nasen- und Nasennebenh�hlenschleimhaut

Sinonasal malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) are infrequent neoplasms. 16 cases of low-malignant MPNST in this localization were retrieved from the files of soft tissue tumors established in Jena. They were examined with regard to their morphology and immunohistochemistry. The importance of an only partial immunostaining by S100 protein antibodies for diagnosis and differential diagnostic discrimination to benign peripheral nerve sheath tumors (schwannomas and neurofibromas) is explained. Finally, the differential diagnosis of spindle cell tumors in the sinonasal region in general is briefly discussed.