Treatment:

Paranasal sinus cancers can start in different types of cells within the sinuses. The type of treatment given will depend on a number of things, including the position and stage of the cancer, the type of cancer, the grade, and your general health. The following treatments may be used alone or in combination with one another. Your doctor will discuss with you the most appropriate treatment for your situation.

Surgery

Surgery may be used, depending on the position of the cancer and whether or not there has been any spread into the surrounding area of lymph nodes. Surgery can sometimes be quite extensive, and in some cases skin grafts or flaps are needed.

Modern prostheses (false facial parts) can be used to give a good appearance after the surgery, if necessary. It can be difficult to prepare for and cope with this kind of surgery. However, help is available from specialist health professionals and support organisations.

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy may be used to treat paranasal sinus cancers. Radiotherapy treats cancer by using high-energy rays to destroy the cancer cells, while doing as little harm as possible to normal tissue.

Depending on the type of radiotherapy treatment that you receive, you may have some side effects. These may include feeling sick (nausea) and vomiting, eye irritations (conjunctivitis), dry eyes and headaches. These symptoms can often be relieved, so it is important to tell your doctor if they occur, so that they can prescribe appropriate medicines. The side effects generally start to reduce a couple of weeks after the treatment has ended.

Hair loss only occurs where the treatment beam enters and leaves the body. Sometimes hair loss in these areas may be permanent. However, in many cases, the hair will start to grow back a few weeks after the treatment finishes.

Chemotherapy

This is the use of anti-cancer (cytotoxic) drugs to destroy cancer cells. Although chemotherapy is helpful for many cancers, it is not very effective for paranasal sinus cancer and is only used occasionally.