Skip to main content
The Egyptian Journal of Otolaryngology
Download PDF
  • Original Article
  • Open access
  • Published:

Is the frontal sinus immune to carcinoma? A retrospective study and review of the literature

The Egyptian Journal of Otolaryngology volume 39, Article number: 122 (2023) Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Frontal sinus carcinoma is commonly seen as an extension of the ethmoid sinus, overlying skin, or lacrimal gland. The existence of this disease has been unclear. We aimed to describe the occurrence of primary frontal sinus carcinoma.

Methods

We conducted a systematic literature review and a retrospective review of the medical records at our institution in the past 10 years.

Results

Sixty-four articles were included in the literature review. Most frontal sinus carcinomas involved surrounding structures as the sphenoid or ethmoid sinus, and a primary origin in the frontal sinus could not be confirmed. No cases of primary frontal sinus carcinoma were identified at our hospital.

Conclusion

Isolated primary frontal sinus carcinoma, if exists, is very rare. There is uncertainty regarding the primary origin of frontal sinus carcinoma in most studies. The frontal sinus seems to be immune from primary carcinoma. Further studies are needed to explain such immunity.

Key points

• Frontal sinus being the primary site for carcinoma is extremely rare.

• The diagnosis of primary frontal sinus carcinoma remains questionable, as it is commonly seen as an extension of the ethmoid sinus, overlying skin, or lacrimal gland.

• There was uncertainty regarding the primary origin of the frontal sinus tumor in most studies.

• No cases of primary frontal sinus carcinoma were identified at our hospital.

• The cause of the rarity of occurrence of primary frontal sinus carcinoma is still not known.

• Further studies are needed to explain such invulnerability or immunity.

Background

Primary or isolated carcinoma of the frontal sinus is extremely rare, reported to account for 0.3–1.0% of all paranasal sinus carcinomas and only 0.009–0.03% of all head and neck cancers [1,2,3,4,5]. Over a 40-year course of practice in the field of head and neck surgery at Kasr Al Aini Hospital, we have not encountered a case of primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus. Many clinicians, even those with a special interest in the disease, may not encounter any case of primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus during their professional careers. Frontal sinus carcinoma is commonly seen as extension of the ethmoid sinus, overlying skin, or lacrimal gland [2, 3]. Many authors have even questioned the existence of this disease. Moreover, the cause of such invulnerability or immunity is unclear. A systematic review of the corresponding literature and a retrospective search of the reported cases may offer the gateway to this puzzle. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the occurrence of primary frontal sinus carcinoma. To achieve this, we performed a systematic review of the literature to evaluate whether the frontal sinus could be susceptible to carcinoma. In addition, we performed a retrospective study of the medical records on primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus at our institute.

Methods

This study was reviewed and approved by the institutional review board of Kasr Al Aini Hospital, Cairo Medical School, Egypt (approval number: N-14–2023). Informed consent to participate was obtained. The data were de-identified.

Systematic review

The study included published articles available in PubMed and Google Scholar databases from their inception until 6th of November 2022. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematics Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. The search was performed by two different researchers. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) all patients with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the frontal sinus and (2) case reports, randomized controlled trials, and observational studies. The exclusion criteria were as follows: (1) extension of the tumor to the frontal sinus from an adjacent primary site, (2) metastatic carcinoma of the frontal sinus from distant malignancy, and (3) pathology other than carcinomas like lymphoma, sarcoma, inverted papilloma, and nonneoplastic conditions.

PubMed was searched using terms as follows: ((frontal) AND (sinus)) AND (carcinoma) with applying automatic filters, species filter including only human studies, and language filter including only articles in English. Google Scholar was searched using terms as follows: “frontal sinus carcinoma” OR “frontal sinus tumors” OR “frontal sinus tumor” OR “frontal sinus malignancy” OR “frontal sinus malignancies,” anywhere in the article — articles in English only — excluding citations. This was followed by manual exclusion of all duplicated and irrelevant articles.

Evaluation of risk of bias was done using Joanna Briggs Institute checklists.

Retrospective study

The medical records on paranasal sinus carcinoma from the Department of Pathology at our institute over the past 10 years (January 2013 to December 2022) and from the Department of Otolaryngology over the past 5 years (January 2018 to December 2022) were reviewed. All paranasal sinus carcinoma cases were evaluated to identify frontal sinus carcinoma. Only cases of primary or isolated sinus carcinoma were targeted.

Results

Systematic review

The selection process for studies included within the systematic review was done according to PRISMA guidelines (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

PRISMA flow chart

Full size image

We could not estimate the total number of reported cases in the literature because many cases were reported in multiple case reports, case series, and retrospective studies. In total, 541 records were found in both databases. After the removal of 153 duplicates, 388 articles were included. Furthermore, only cases of primary frontal sinus carcinoma were included, so, more 311 articles citing benign or metastatic tumors and pathologies other than carcinoma, and irrelevant studies, were excluded. Moreover, the remaining full-text 77 articles were assessed for eligibility, and 22 articles were excluded. Finally, only 55 articles were included [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55].

Retrospective study

The retrospective study of medical records did not reveal any case of primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus.

Discussion

Sinonasal carcinomas constitute 3–5% of all head and neck cancers [1,2,3,4,5]. Patients are generally asymptomatic in the early stages; hence, approximately two-thirds of patients present with stage IV tumors. The near location to important structures like the skull base and orbit presents a therapeutic challenge. Several authors have questioned the existence of primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus [3, 56] and even tried to provide an explanation for this inconceivable observation [54, 57]. Several studies including large number of patients showed no carcinoma primarily involving the frontal sinus, supporting the inconceivable observation [20, 27, 34, 58,59,60,61,62].

Large retrospective studies of paranasal sinus malignancies generally revealed the rarity of primary frontal sinus carcinoma in addition to uncertainty regarding the primary origin of the tumor [10]. Most of these tumors were included in extensive lesions involving the adjacent ethmoid sinus [2,3,4,5, 13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22, 25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32, 35, 38, 41, 42, 48, 49, 54]

Various reports have described extensive carcinomatous lesions, with the skin, ethmoid sinus, or the lacrimal gland being the origin of frontal sinus carcinoma. There is no solid evidence regarding the exact origin of the primary frontal sinus carcinoma [6, 13, 21, 27, 51].

One of the largest series included 13,295 patients with sinonasal malignancies enrolled between 1973 and 2011. The frontal sinus was involved in 1–2% cases. No information was provided to establish whether these represented primary isolated frontal sinus lesions or extension of adjacent structures [63].

Another considerably large series on frontal sinus malignancies was conducted. A 30-year search of the SEER database revealed 171 cases, including approximately 116 cases with different types of carcinomas [1]. Most patients presented with extensively advanced local disease with or without regional or distant metastasis. Hence, it was not possible to identify the primary origin of these tumors. It also revealed that overall prognosis for patients with frontal sinus malignancies is poor, with a 5-year overall survival rate of 31 to 50%. Prognosis was most commonly related to extent of disease and local recurrence [1].

Other series on paranasal sinus malignancies studied for 10–19 years reported two to three cases of primary frontal sinus carcinoma [34, 39, 43, 46]. There was inadequate characterization regarding the origin of these rare tumors; in particular, nearly all described extensive tumors invaded more than one subsite.

In many reports, because primary tumors of frontal and sphenoid sinuses are rare, they were grouped and analyzed with the advanced primary tumors of the ethmoid sinus [2, 9, 25, 34, 35, 51, 61, 64].

Moreover, old reports also increase uncertainty regarding the true origin of possible or suspected primary frontal sinus carcinoma. The first report of frontal sinus carcinoma was published in 1907 [65], as cited in 2014 [21]. A systematic review of the French literature in 1948 [66] cited 5 years later [57] identified 31 cases of primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus. The Indian literature 50 years ago reported two consecutive cases of primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus and cited an earlier report of 102 cases [48, 67]. Such large case series reported 50 and 75 years ago, in the absence of modern radiology and the advance in pathology, should raise doubt about regarding whether the cases were of primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus or an extension from surrounding lesions or even metastatic.

Malignancy has been associated with cholesteatoma of the frontal sinus [45, 68]; the occurrence of these two rare conditions in the same patient was questioned [52]. Primary frontal sinus carcinoma was claimed to be associated with frontal mucopyoceles [3, 41, 47]. The origin of these tumors was debated and suspected to be the lacrimal gland [1, 29]. A case report of primary frontal sinus carcinoma related to osteomyelitis was published [40]. Metastasis could not be ruled out owing to the rapid nature and aggressive nature of the lesion. Primary frontal sinus carcinoma was identified on top of a frontal sinus inverted papilloma [7, 24] in conjunction with ethmoid [24] and sphenoid [7] lesions, which does not substantiate the frontal sinus being the origin of the carcinoma. One case report described two separate synchronous carcinomas in the right frontal sinus in the same patient, i.e., squamous cell carcinoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma. It should be noted that this patient had sinus irrigation with thorotrast 30 years before, which is a carcinogenic material [44].

Limitations of our study include being single-center study, although our center is a major tertiary referral center. Our retrospective study also included relatively limited number of years (5 years at the otolaryngology department and 10 years at the pathology department). In our systematic review, we noticed a high risk of bias in most of studies reporting primary frontal sinus carcinoma because it was not possible to confirm the site of origin of most of the reported cases of primary frontal sinus carcinoma in the literature, as they either characterized extensive tumors or did not provide accurate imaging studies to prove the exact site of origin of the tumor especially in early studies.

Conclusions

Primary frontal sinus carcinoma is rare, constituting < 5% of sinonasal carcinomas in most reports. More than a century since the earliest reports of primary frontal sinus carcinoma [65], various published articles followed. Most of the reported cases of frontal sinus carcinoma were extensive tumors involving multiple structures such as the orbit and lacrimal gland, ethmoid sinus, and skin of the forehead. There was uncertainty regarding the primary origin of the frontal sinus tumor in most studies. In some reports, cases were grouped with advanced primary tumors of the ethmoid or sphenoid sinuses. Large series collecting cases over many years did not reveal any case of primary frontal sinus carcinoma at our institution. In fact, several authors have questioned the existence of primary frontal sinus carcinoma [56] and even provided an explanation for this inconceivable observation [57]. The present systemic review and retrospective study endorses the infrequency or absenteeism of primary frontal sinus carcinoma.

The mucosal immune system in the intestines, urogenital tract, and respiratory system plays a protective against toxins and microbial diseases [69]. The role of the immune system against cancer is not entirely understood. Nevertheless, the mucosal immune system may play a role in protecting the frontal sinus to a great extent and may solve this puzzle. The frontal sinus seems to be immune from primary carcinoma. However, further studies are needed to explain such invulnerability or immunity.

Availability of data and materials

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

References

  1. Bhojwani A, Unsal A, Dubal PM, Echanique KA, Soly Baredes S, Liu JK, Eloy JA (2016) Frontal sinus malignancies: a population-based analysis of incidence and survival. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 4:735–741

    Google Scholar 

  2. Madana J, Yolmo D, Gopalakrishnan S, Saxena S (2011) Primary frontal sinus carcinoma with extradural anterior cranial fossa involvement. Ear Nose Throat J 90:E4–E7

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Gerlinger I, Gobel G, Tóth E, Szanyi I, Weninger C (2008) Primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus: a case report and a review of literature. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 265:593–597

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Yoshida N, Kanekura T, Hashiguchi T, Nagayama T, Hamada H, Kanzaki T (2006) Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the frontal sinus. J Dermatol 33:855–857

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Reddy KT, Gihooly M, Wallace M, Ali MH (1991) Frontal sinus carcinoma presenting as acute sinusitis. J Laryngol Otol 105:121–122

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Tanaka K, Sugawara T, Asakage T, Okazaki M (2021) A concept of “boundary determination” by the combination of a local flap and free tissue transfer useful for the prevention of postoperative complications after complex and widespread skull base reconstruction. J Craniofac Surg 32:e820–e822

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Li Y, Wang C, Wang R, Zhang J, Liu H, Shi Q, Chen X, Hou L, Ma H, Zhong Q, Li P (2021) Prognostic factors of sinonasal squamous cell carcinomas arising de novo and from inverted papilloma. Am J Rhinol Allergy 35:114–121

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Chweya CM, Low CM, Van Gompel JJ, Van Abel KM, Stokken JK, Choby G (2021) Population-based analysis on the effect of nodal and distant metastases in sinonasal adenocarcinoma. Head Neck 43:128–136

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Wang Z, Zhang J, Wu R, Zhang Y, Xu G, Gao L, Yi J, Luo J (2021) Clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes following surgery combined with adjuvant radiotherapy for primary frontal sinus malignancies: a single-center analysis. Research square

    Google Scholar 

  10. Slevin F, Pan S, Mistry H, Denholm M, Shor D, Oong Z, Price J, Jadon R, Fleming JC, Barnett G, Dixon L (2021) A multicentre UK study of outcomes for locally advanced sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma treated with adjuvant or definitive intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Clin Oncol 33:e450–e461

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Lee YM, Park HJ, Kim SD, Cho KS (2020) Mini osteoplastic flap through supra-eyebrow incision for primary frontal sinus squamous cell carcinoma. J CraniofaC Surg 31:517–519

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Trope M, Triantafillou V, Kohanski MA, Kuan EC, Tong CC, Patel NN, Maina IW, Carey RM, Workman AD, Palmer JN, Adappa ND (2019) Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the sinonasal tract: a review of the national cancer database. InInternat Forum Allergy Rhinol 9:427–434

    Google Scholar 

  13. Tirelli G, Capriotti V, Sartori G, Tofanelli M, Marcuzzo AV (2019) Primary adenoid cystic carcinoma of the frontal sinus: case description of a previously unreported entity and literature review. Ear Nose Throat J 98:E8–12

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Minato H, Kobayashi E, Nakada S, Kurose N, Tanaka M, Tanaka Y, Suzuki S, Tanioka F, Saikawa Y, Miwa T, Nojima T (2018) Sinonasal NUT carcinoma: clinicopathological and cytogenetic analysis with autopsy findings. Hum Pathol 71:157–165

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Dova S, Karkos PD, Constantinidis J (2018) Reconstruction of frontal defects with calvarial grafts. Rhinology 56:297–302

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Kılıç S, Kılıç SS, Kim ES, Baredes S, Mahmoud O, Gray ST, Eloy JA (2017) Significance of human papillomavirus positivity in sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma. InInt Forum Allergy Rhinol 7:980–989

    Google Scholar 

  17. Lobo BC, D’Anza B, Farlow JL, Tang D, Woodard TD, Ting JY, Sindwani R (2017) Outcomes of sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma with and without association of inverted papilloma: a multi-institutional analysis. Am J Rhinol Allergy 31:305–309

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Danesh-Sani SA, Sarafraz A, Chamani M, Derakhshandeh H (2016) Paranasal sinuses malignancies: a 12-year review of clinical characteristics. Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal 21:e626–e630

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Park SH, Lee JE, Ahn D (2016) Outcome of definitive and postoperative radiotherapy in patients with sinonasal squamous cell carcinomas. Tumori J 102:426–432

    Google Scholar 

  20. Vergez S, Du Mayne MD, Coste A, Gallet P, Jankowski R, Dufour X, Righini C, Reyt E, Choussy O, Serrano E, Crampette L (2014) Multicenter study to assess endoscopic resection of 159 sinonasal adenocarcinomas. Ann Surg Oncol 21:1384–1390

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Zhang HZ, Li YP, She L, Wang XD, Yan ZC, Zhang N, Xu EX (2014) Primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus with extensive intracranial invasion: a case report and review of the literature. Oncol Lett 7:1915–1918

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Fukumitsu N, Okumura T, Mizumoto M, Oshiro Y, Hashimoto T, Kanemoto A, Hashii H, Ohkawa A, Moritake T, Tsuboi K, Tabuchi K (2012) Outcome of T4 (International Union Against Cancer Staging System, ) or recurrent nasal cavity and paranasal sinus carcinoma treated with proton beam. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 83:704–11

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Hosokawa S, Okamura J, Sakai N, Mineta H (2012) Primary spindle cell carcinoma of the frontal sinus. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 70:e674–e678

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Kim K, Kim D, Koo Y, Kim CH, Choi EC, Lee JG, Yoon JH (2012) Sinonasal carcinoma associated with inverted papilloma: a report of 16 cases. J Cranio-Maxillofac Surg 40:e125–e129

    Google Scholar 

  25. Wadhera R, Gulati SP, Garg A, Ghai A, Kumar S (2011) Primary adenocarcinoma of the frontal sinus. Ear Nose Throat J 90:E23–E25

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Kumar A, Hsuan JD (2010) Globe preservation surgery for a paranasal tumor with orbital extension. Orbit 29:341–342

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Ichinose T, Goto T, Motomura H, Terakawa Y, Ohata K (2009) Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the frontal sinus treated with en bloc resection: case report. Neuro Med Chir (Tokyo) 49:481–483

    Google Scholar 

  28. Hanna E, DeMonte F, Ibrahim S, Roberts D, Levine N, Kupferman M (2009) Endoscopic resection of sinonasal cancers with and without craniotomy: oncologic results. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 135:1219–1224

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Paweł K, Burduk PK, Wierzchowska M, Bilewicz R (2007) Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the frontal sinus–a case report. Otolaryngol Pol 61:505–8

    Google Scholar 

  30. Helsel JC, Bardales RH, Mukunyadzi P (2003) Fine-needle aspiration biopsy cytology of malignant neoplasms of the sinonasal tract: a review of 22 primary and metastatic tumors. Cancer 99:105–112

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Katz TS, Mendenhall WM, Morris CG, Amdur RJ, Hinerman RW, Villaret DB (2002) Malignant tumors of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Head Neck 24:821–829

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Myers LL, Nussenbaum B, Bradford CR, Teknos TN, Esclamado RM, Wolf GT (2002) Paranasal sinus malignancies: an 18-year single institution experience. Laryngoscope 112:1964–1969

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Fukuda S, Sakai N, Kamata SE, Nameki H, Kishimoto S, Nishikawa K, Kaneko S, Miyata M, Fujii M, Inuyama Y (2001) Surgical results of skull base surgery for the treatment of head and neck malignancies involving skull base: multi-institutional studies on 143 cases in Japan. Auris Nasus Larynx 28:S71–S75

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Dulguerov P, Jacobsen MS, Allal AS, Lehmann W, Calcaterra T (2001) Nasal and paranasal sinus carcinoma: are we making progress? A series of 220 patients and a systematic review. Cancer 92:3012–3029

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Grau C, Jakobsen MH, Harbo G, Svane-Knudsen V, Wedervang K, Larsen SK, Rytter C (2001) Sino-nasal cancer in Denmark 1982–1999-a nationwide survey. Acta Oncol 40(1):19–23

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Abrahao M, Goncalves AP, Yamashita R, Dedivitis RA, Santos RO, Nascimento LA, Mudo ML, Ferraz FA, Cervantes O (2000) Frontal sinus adenocarcinoma. Sao Paulo Med J 118:118–120

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Dubey SP, Murthy DP, Kaleh LK, Vele DD (1999) Malignant tumours of the nasal cavity and the paranasal sinuses in a Melanesian population. Auris Nasus Larynx 26:57–64

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Chowdhury AD, Ijaz T, El-Sayed S (1997) Frontal sinus carcinoma: a case report and review of the literature. Australasian Radiol 41:380–382

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Alvarez I, Suarez C, Rodrigo JP, Nunez F, Caminero MJ (1995) Prognostic factors in paranasal sinus cancer. Am J Otolaryngol 16:109–114

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Yura S, Data G, Kawata Y, Yonemasu Y (1985) Squamous cell carcinoma of the frontal sinus caused osteomyelitis of the frontal bone. No Shinkei Geka 13:531–536

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Newman AN, Colman M, Jayich SA (1983) Verrucous carcinoma of the frontal sinus: a case report and review of the literature. J Surg Oncol 24:298–303

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Scully RE, Mark EJ, McNeely EU (1983) Case records of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Weekly clinicopathological exercises: case 30–1983. A 76-year-old man with seizures and a right frontal mass. N Engl J Med 309:226–235

    Google Scholar 

  43. Nagata K, Kurita S, Mihashi S (1982) Carcinoma of the frontal sinus report of 2 cases. Kurume Med J 29:S45–S47

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Cantor JO, Adelglass J, Cerreta JM, Kancherla PL, Samara M (1981) Collision tumor of the frontal sinus: evidence of prior intrasinus instillation of thorotrast. Laryngoscope 91:798–803

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Maniglia AJ, Villa L (1977) Epidermoid carcinoma of the frontal sinus secondary to cholesteatoma. Trans Sect Otolaryngol Am Acad Ophthalmol Otolaryngol 84:112–115

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Takácsi-Nagy L, Somlo F (1976) The role of radiotherapy in the treatment of primary tumours of the frontal sinuses. J Laryngol Otol 90:211–215

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Robinson JM (1975) Frontal sinus cancer manifested as a frontal mucocele. Arch Otolaryngol 101:718–721

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  48. Bhide AR, Tepan MG, Kale RV (1974) Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the frontal sinus. Ind J Otol 26:85–87

    Google Scholar 

  49. Sinha AK, Prasad GN (1970) Carcinoma of frontal sinus. J Laryngol Otol 84:943–946

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Badib AO, Kurohara SS, Webster JH, Shedd DP (1969) Treatment of cancer of the paranasal sinuses. Cancer 23:533–537

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Frew I (1969) Frontal sinus carcinoma. J Laryngol Otol 83:393–396

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Osborn DA, Wallace M (1967) Carcinoma of the frontal sinus associated with epidermoid cholesteatoma. J Laryngol Otol 81:1021–1032

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Mitchell JF (1960) Carcinoma of the frontal sinus. J Laryngol Otol 74:423–430

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Kapur YP, Fairman HD (1958) A case of carcinoma of the frontal sinus. J Laryngol Otol 72:995–1000

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Sciarra PA, Hallberg OE (1956) XXII primary squamous cell carcinoma of the frontal sinus. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 65:225–229

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Capps FC (1949) Malignant disease of the paranasal sinuses. Ann R Coll Surg Engl 4:38–47

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  57. Brunner H (1953) Primary tumors of the frontal bone. AMA Arch Otolaryngol 57:158–172

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Bridger GP, Mendelsohn MS, Baldwin M, Smee R (1991) Paranasal sinus cancer. Aust N Z J Surg 61:290–294

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Kraus DH, Roberts JK, Medendorp SV, Levine HL, Wood BG, Tucker HM, Lavertu P (1990) Nonsquamous cell malignancies of the paranasal sinuses. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 99:5–11

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Lavertu P, Roberts JK, Kraus DH, Levine HL, Wood BG, Medendorp SV, Tucker HM (1989) Squamous cell carcinoma of the paranasal sinuses: the Cleveland Clinic experience 1977–1986. Laryngoscope 99:1130–6

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Brownson RJ, Ogura JH (1971) Primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus. Laryngoscope 81:71–89

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Osborn DA, Winston P (1961) Carcinoma of the paranasal sinuses. J Laryng 75:387

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Dutta R, Dubal PM, Svider PF, Liu JK, Baredes S, Eloy JA (2015) Sinonasal malignancies: a population-based analysis of site-specific incidence and survival. Laryngoscope 125:2491–2497

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Wang RG, Wang G, Chen L (2011) Three cases of primary squamous cell carcinoma in the frontal sinus. Zhonghua Er Bi Yan Hou Tou Jing Wai Ke Za Zhi 46:664–668

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Prawssud NG (1907) Carcinoma sinus frontalis. Vestnik Oftalmo- logii 24:253–255

    Google Scholar 

  66. Gregoire A, Marin P (1948) Deux cas d’epithelioma primitif du sinus frontal. Oto-rhino-laryg Internat 32:45

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  67. Kantawala SA (1972) Primary carcinoma of the frontal sinus. J Postgrad Med 18:99–100

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Hansen S, Sorensen CH, Stage J, Mouritzen A, Caye-Thomasen P (2007) Massive cholesteatoma of the frontal sinus: case report and review of the literature. Auris Nasus Larynx 34:387–392

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Jerry R, McGhee JR, Fujihashi K (2012) Inside the mucosal immune system. PLoS Biol 10:e1001397

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, Kasr El Aini Hospital, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

    Mohamed Rifai, Maha Zaki & M. E. Abdelmalek

Authors
  1. Mohamed Rifai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maha Zaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. E. Abdelmalek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

MZ contributed in data collection for the retrospective study and revision of the article. AME contributed in methodology, search of PubMed and Google Scholar databases, and scientific writing of the article. MR had the idea of the work, contributed in search of PubMed and Google Scholar databases which were searched by him and AME each of them individually, and revision of the whole article. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. E. Abdelmalek.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was reviewed and approved by the institutional review board of Kasr Al Aini Hospital, Cairo Medical School, Egypt (approval number: N-14–2023). Informed consent to participate was obtained. The data were de-identified.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rifai, M., Zaki, M. & Abdelmalek, M.E. Is the frontal sinus immune to carcinoma? A retrospective study and review of the literature. Egypt J Otolaryngol 39, 122 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43163-023-00488-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s43163-023-00488-y

Keywords