Nasal septum malignancy

Malignancies of the nasal septum are rare diseases and fewer than 400 cases were reported. The understanding of the disease is limited due to its rarity.

We present a series of patients with nasal septum malignancies, who were referred to the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Ear, Nose and Throat Department from 2007 to 2010.

Seventeen patients were found to have nasal septum malignancies. The average age was 59.5 years old (range: 36 to 83 years old). The commonest initial symptom on presentation was nasal obstruction (nine out of 17, 53%), seconded by epistaxis (eight out of 17, 47%). The average time from the initial onset of symptoms to presentation averaged 18.8 months (range: 1 to 48 months). The commonest physical finding on presentation was nasal masses (11 out of 17, 65%), followed by nasal septum ulcers (four out of 17, 24%). The histology of the lesions was predominantly squamous cell carcinoma. The mean duration of follow-up was 24.7 months. The overall 3-year survival was 81.9% with the relapse free survival 66.7%.

Nasal septum malignancies are highly treatable with good prognoses when in early stages. They required high degree of suspicion to be detected early. Treatment options include surgical resection and radiotherapy and they offered similar 3-year survival rate. Combined therapy is adopted in larger tumours; however, it is not verified with randomized trials. Vigilant follow-up is vital to detect early recurrence, which is common in advanced stage lesions.