Treatment and prognosis of sinonasal mucosal melanoma

Abstract To evaluate the treatment and prognosis of sinonasal mucosal melanoma (SMM). Clinicopathological data of SMM patients from January 1976 to December 2005 were analyzed retrospectively. Survival analysis was performed and Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to compare the effect of clinicopathological factors on survival using SPSS 18.0 software. A Cox model was applied for multivariate analysis. The 3-year and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of 68 cases of SMM were 36.1% and 29.4%, respectively. The 3-year and 5-year OS of patients who underwent surgery or biotherapy were significantly higher than that of patients who underwent other therapeutic regimens without surgery or without biotherapy, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed the patients with distant metastasis at first present or residual/recurrence had a worse prognosis than that without distant metastasis or residual/recurrence, respectively. Surgery and biotherapy were effective treatments for SMM. SMM has a poor prognosis, especially in the patients with distant metastasis or residual/recurrence. Surgery or biotherapy may improve the prognosis of patients with SMM.