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Key Statistics for Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinus Cancers
Learn about key statistics for nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancers, including how common they are, who is most affected, and the outlook for those with a diagnosis.
How common are nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancers?
Cancers of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses are rare, making up about 3% of head and neck cancers and less than 1% of cancers overall in the United States.
About 4 of these cancers are diagnosed per million people in the US each year.
Most of these cancers occur in the maxillary sinuses or in the nasal cavity. They are less common in the ethmoid sinuses and are rare in the frontal and sphenoid sinuses.
Who gets nasal cavity or paranasal sinus cancer?
Most nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancers occur in people who are over 50 years of age.
In the US, men are about twice as likely as women to get these cancers.
Nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancers are much more common in people exposed to some types of dust, glue, or solvents while at work. See Causes, Risk Factors, and Prevention of Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinus Cancer for more information.
For statistics related to survival, see Survival Rates for Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinus Cancers.
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- References
Developed by the American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team with medical review and contribution by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
Dagan R, Amdur RJ, Dziegielewski PT. Tumors of the nasal cavity. UpToDate. 2025. Accessed at https://www.uptodate.com/contents/tumors-of-the-nasal-cavity on January 8, 2026.
National Cancer Institute. Paranasal Sinus and Nasal Cavity Cancer Treatment (PDQ)–Patient Version. 2024. Accessed at https://www.cancer.gov/types/head-and-neck/patient/adult/paranasal-sinus-treatment-pdq on January 8, 2026.
Stenson KM, Haraf DJ. Paranasal sinus cancer. UpToDate. 2025. Accessed at https://www.uptodate.com/contents/paranasal-sinus-cancer on January 8, 2026.
Turner JH, Reh DD. Incidence and survival in patients with sinonasal cancer: A historical analysis of population-based data. Head Neck. 2012;34(6):877-85. Epub 2011 Aug 24.
Last Revised: February 27, 2026
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