Management of orbital invasion in sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma: 15 years' experience

This study was intended to review our management strategy for sinonasal squamous cell carcinomas (SNSCCs) with orbital invasion and to explore the role of radiotherapy in orbital preservation.

We retrospectively analyzed 93 SNSCC patients with orbital invasion who underwent radiotherapy with or without surgery over the past 15 years. The degree of orbital invasion was classified into 3 grades.

Eighty-eight patients presented with T4 tumors and 36 had grade III orbital invasion. Seventy-two patients received surgery plus radiation and 67 received platinum-based chemotherapy. The median follow-up for surviving patients was 60 months. Five-year overall survival (OS) for the whole group was 57.4%. The patients treated with surgery plus radiation had a 5-year survival rate of 62.2% and orbital preservation was feasible in 90.3% of cases. Twenty-one patients with SNSCCs that extended into the extraocular muscles or eye globe also underwent orbital preservation. Five-year locoregional relapse-free survival (LRFS) was 69.5% for patients treated with orbital preservation and 57.1% for those treated with orbital exenteration, indicating no statistical difference. Five-year survival, 5-year progression-free survival (PFS), and 5-year distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were similar between groups. Grade III orbital invasion was independently associated with shorter OS, LRFS, PFS, and DMFS.

Orbital invasion in grade III was associated with the worst survival outcomes. Invasion of either the extraocular muscles or eye globe is not a contraindication for eye-sparing surgery. Preoperative chemoradiation continues to offer hope to patients with a strong desire to preserve their eyes.