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Objective: To evaluate the apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) expression in sinonasal squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and to examine the correlation between APE1 expression patterns and various clinicopathological factors associated with sinonasal SCC that include SCC with inverted papilloma (SCCwIP) and SCC alone., Study Design: Case-control study., Setting: Chungnam National University Hospital., Subjects and Methods: The expressions of APE1 were analyzed by means of immunohistochemistry in 30 sinonasal SCC, including 14 SCC patients associated with IP and 16 patients with SCC alone. A total of 19 patients who had been diagnosed with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis and who required endoscopic sinus surgery were used as the control group. The degrees of APE1 expression were analyzed with respect to the following clinicopathologic variables: age, sex, T stage, histologic differentiation, distant metastasis, and recurrence., Results: Cytoplasmic staining of APE1 was significantly higher in SCC compared with SCCwIP (68.75% vs 14.29%). Cytoplasmic staining of APE1 was significantly associated with T stage (P = .044) in SCC and histologic grade (P = .0025) in sinonasal SCC. Nuclear staining of APE1 was significantly associated with distant metastasis (P = .022) in SCC., Conclusion: These results suggest that the nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of APE1 may be related to tumor invasiveness and prognosis in sinonasal SCC. The suppression of APE1 expression can potentially be a new target for future sinonasal SCC therapies.

Sinonasal non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), previously designated as transitional cell carcinoma or cylindrical cell carcinoma, is an uncommon malignant neoplasm with distinct histopathological features, considered to be a low-grade malignancy that usually occurs in elderly patients. Extensive local invasion is uncommon. Here we report a case of 90-year-old woman whose original presentation was as erythematous nasal skin nodules, biopsy of which showed a dermal tumor with features of sinonasal non-keratinizing SCC. No epidermal dysplasia was present. A subsequent computed tomography scan confirmed the presence of an endophytic tumor on the nasal sidewall. The initial presentation of sinonasal non-keratinizing SCC as a skin lesion is previously unreported to our knowledge. Diagnosis in this context requires accurate evaluation of the histopathology as well as a comprehensive knowledge of pathology specific to this anatomic location., (Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.)

Objectives: To identify the expression of estrogen receptors in malignant minor salivary gland tumors of the sinonasal tract., Study Design: Case series with chart review., Subjects and Methods: A retrospective review of a pathology database identified 17 patients with malignant salivary gland tumors between December 1987 and January 2006. Clinicopathologic data were collected, and immunohistochemical staining for estrogen receptor alpha and beta was performed., Results: Among these malignant tumors, adenoid cystic carcinoma was the predominant histologic type. In addition to epistaxis and nasal obstruction, the headache, facial, or ocular symptoms were also commonly noted in this cohort. Seventy-five percent of cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma were positive for estrogen receptor alpha. In contrast, only 17 percent of cases of adenoid cystic carcinoma were positive for estrogen receptor beta., Conclusion: Malignant minor salivary gland tumors of the sinonasal tract are rare disease entities. In the present series, adenoid cystic carcinoma was the most common form of tumor, but the prognosis was poor. Most of the cases were positive for expression of estrogen receptor alpha, which suggests that hormone therapy may have a role in the management of certain minor salivary gland tumors of the paranasal sinus and nasal cavity.

Objective: Assess the amplification of CCND1, EMS1, PIK3CA, ERBB1, and ERBB2 oncogenes in ethmoid sinus adenocarcinomas., Study Design and Setting: Tissue samples from 13 primary ethmoid adenocarcinomas and 2 recurrences were studied at Hospital Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain, between July 1998 and February 2002. A semiquantitative evaluation of CCND1, EMS1, PIK3CA, ERBB1, and ERBB2 amplification was performed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction., Results: Three (23%) cases presented CCND1 amplification, one of them with a concurrent PIK3CA amplification. EMS1 was amplified in the 2 studied recurrences. ERBB1 was amplified in 1 case (8%), whereas none presented ERBB2 amplification. Oncogenic amplifications were only detected in advanced (stage III) tumors; however, no prognostic value could be shown for them., Conclusions: CCND1, EMS1, PIK3CA, and ERBB1 amplifications are uncommon and appear to be late events in the development of ethmoid sinus adenocarcinoma., Significance: New information on the carcinogenesis of this infrequent sinonasal tumor is presented.

Background: Inverted papilloma (IP) is a frequent benign sinonasal tumor that is characterized histologically by squamous metaplasia, epithelial acanthosis, and hyperplasia of the nasal epithelium. Because of its high recurrence rate and malignant transformation potential, careful long-term follow up is necessary., Methods: The purpose of the current report was to study the expression of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen in sinonasal IPs and to evaluate the usefulness of SCC antigen as a biologic marker for the follow-up of patients with sinonasal IP. The expression of SCCA1 in three sinonasal IP cases, three sinonasal SCC cases, and cases of normal nasal epithelium were examined by Western blot analysis, and the SCCA1 expression pattern in 31 IP specimens and 4 carcinoma in IP specimens were evaluated immunohistochemically. The serum levels of SCC antigen in 11 patients with sinonasal IP also were analyzed., Results: SCCA1 was overexpressed in all three sinonasal IP tissues compared with sinonasal SCC tissues or normal nasal epithelium. SCCA1 cytoplasmic immunoreactivity was detected in the suprabasal epidermal keratinocytes of all 31 sinonasal IP cases. In the four carcinoma in IP specimens, SCCA1 expression in the papillomatous lesion was more intense than in the cancerous lesion. The serum SCC antigen level was high in 10 of 11 patients with IP (91%) and significantly decreased after surgical resection of the tumors., Conclusions: The results of the current study indicate that SCCA1 frequently is overexpressed and may play a biologic role in the development of sinonasal IPs. Serum SCC antigen may be a useful biologic marker in patients with sinonasal IP., (Copyright 2002 American Cancer Society.)

Background: Positron emission tomography (PET) with labeled fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) demonstrates increased tracer uptake in many neoplasms. This study was undertaken to define the patterns of FDG uptake in head and neck neoplasms before and after high dose irradiation., Methods: Twenty-five patients were evaluated prospectively with PET and standard clinical and radiographic techniques before and after irradiation., Results: Twenty-seven primary sites were confirmed pathologically in 23 patients and included the nasopharynx (four lesions), oropharynx (14 lesions), larynx (five lesions), oral cavity (two lesions), and paranasal sinuses (two lesions). Two patients had unknown primary sites. Twenty-four of 27 primary sites correlated with areas of increased tracer uptake on PET scans. Five patients had increased uptake in cervical lymph nodes that were uninvolved by radiographic or clinical criteria. Positron emission tomography seemed to be able to differentiate tumor activity from fluid-filled sinuses in two patients with paranasal sinus tumors. In two patients with unknown primary sites, increased uptake in the base of tongue after PET suggested occult primary sites. Positron emission tomography scans obtained 1 month after high dose irradiation (RT) indicated decreased levels of FDG uptake in all patients' tumors. However, these scans did not accurately reflect the status of disease in these patients. Scans obtained 4 months after RT were believed to assess more accurately the presence of malignancy., Conclusions: Positron emission tomography is a new modality that may be useful in defining tumor activity in clinically negative areas. Appropriately timed posttreatment PET may be useful in predicting outcome after definitive RT and in distinguishing viable tumors from normal tissue changes after RT in patients with head and neck carcinomas.

Background: Patients who survive retinoblastoma (RB) are at risk for having second nonocular tumors, usually osteosarcomas, which often are fatal. Such patients almost always have bilateral RB., Methods: This article reports a woman who, at the age of 1 year had been cured of a unilateral RB by radiation therapy and enucleation. Eighteen years later, she had a sinonasal small cell tumor that rapidly recurred and proved fatal 2 months after surgical debulking. The tumor was studied by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopic (EM) examination., Results: It showed diffuse neuron-specific enolase staining, focal weak staining for chromogranin, synaptophysin, and Leu-7 monoclonal antibodies in paraffin-embedded, B5-fixed tissue (Great Lakes Diagnostics, Troy, MI). EM study showed an undifferentiated primitive neuroectodermal tumor with many polyribosomes, simple cell junctions, few microtubules, and rare dense core granules., Conclusions: The combined immunohistochemical, ultrastructural, and clinical features of the tumor were interpreted as a sinonasal primitive neuroectodermal tumor with early neuronal differentiation. The tumor was pathologically indistinguishable from poorly differentiated olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB) and Ewing sarcoma.

Four cases of small cell carcinoma of the paranasal sinuses were studied histologically, ultrastructurally, and endocrinologically. All tumors showed features of undifferentiated carcinoma with alveolar patterns but without acinar or squamous differentiation and contained cells possessing endocrine-type small secretory granules, which were indistinguishable from non-neoplastic neurosecretory granules. The three cases also possessed a small number of microtubules, and in one of these fine cytoplasmic filaments were observed. One case showed elevated plasma levels of cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone associated with adrenocortical hyperplasia and Crooke's changes of the pituitary gland. Another case showed hypercalcemia with bone metastasis, hypercalcitonemia with a high content of calcitonin in the tumor tissue, calcitonin-positive tumor cells, and C-cell hyperplasia of the thyroid. It was concluded that all four cases should be called neuroendocrine carcinoma, which might be related to neoplasms derived from amine precursor uptake and decarboxylation cell series rarely encountered in the paranasal sinuses.