Reirradiation of locally recurrent carcinoma of the maxillary sinus

The changes in radiosensitivity of locally recurrent cancer and in normal tissue tolerance are not established. So, determining the optimal therapy is often very difficult in the treatment of locally recurrent maxillary cancer. In this study, we reviewed the retreatment results of 19 patients with locally recurrent maxillary cancer. The time interval between the first and the second irradiation ranged from four to 23 months (mean 11.1 months). The total radiation dose of the first and the second irradiation ranged from 56 to 123 Gy (mean 87.0 Gy). The survival rates for all patients at one, two and five years were 43.1%, 28.7% and 28.7%, respectively. The extent of tumor resection and the clinical stages were the major prognostic factors. Severe late complications such as brain necrosis or bone necrosis did not develop in any patients who survived more than one year. Although we compared the radioresponses of the initial and the recurrent tumors in five patients, a definite conclusion about the changes in radioresponse could not be drawn.