Carcinoma of the nasal vestibule: report of 12 cases

Carcinoma, or cancer, of the vestibule (entrance) of the nose is very infrequently found and is often diagnosed incorrectly or late, when it is already advanced. The tumor often grows so that most of it is hidden beneath the skin surface and only a small portion of it is visible. It usually appears as a crusty lesion that is initially treated with ointments; this delays reaching the correct diagnosis and beginning treatment. While the usual form of treatment is radiotherapy, this report shows the value of treatment with chemotherapeutic agents administered through an artery prior to radiotherapy. The authors report on 12 patients treated during the years 1975 to 1987 who had biopsy-proven cases of cancer of the nasal vestibule. The group consisted of 11 men and 1 woman. The average age of the patients was 65 years, with a range from 50 to 82 years. Ten of the patients were smokers and five normally drank at least 1 liter of wine daily. All patients had a painful ulcer at the site of the tumor, which was their principle symptom. Most small tumors were treated by simple resection (surgical removal) while those which were more advanced were treated by chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy. The chemotherapeutic agent was delivered by a catheter placed in the artery which served the area of the tumor. The drug was slowly delivered over a treatment period of several day in several cycles. It was concluded that the treatment approach used appears effective at reaching the best possible rate of cure with the maximum of function retained. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)