Carcinosarcoma of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses: Review of the national cancer database

BACKGROUND: Carcinosarcomas are rare, aggressive malignancies that can arise in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. There are limited outcome data available. Accordingly, we sought to use the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to characterize patient demographics and outcomes. METHOD: A retrospective analysis of the NCDB from 2004 to 2016 for patients with sinonasal carcinosarcoma was conducted. RESULTS: Thirty patients were included. The patients were predominantly male (n = 20), white (n = 23), and privately insured (n = 15), with an average age of 62.4 years. The nasal cavity was the most common subsite (n = 14), followed by the maxillary sinus (n = 8). Most patient were treated with surgery followed by radiation (n = 23), with the remaining undergoing surgery alone (n = 4), radiation alone (n = 2), or no treatment (n = 1). One‐third (n = 10) received adjuvant chemotherapy. The 1‐ and 5‐year overall survival (OS) in the cohort were 79.2% and 43.3%, respectively. Univariate log‐rank testing showed OS varied based on intervention (P < 0.029), sex (P < 0.042), and age (P < 0.025), while on multivariate analysis none of these factors independently predicted OS. CONCLUSIONS: We describe the demographics and presenting features of a national cohort of sinonasal carcinosarcoma patients. Future research is needed to identify predictors of overall survival, and to assess the optimal roles for radiation and systemic chemotherapy.