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At our National Cancer Information Center trained Cancer Information Specialists can answer questions 24 hours a day, every day of the year to empower you with accurate, up-to-date information to help you make educated health decisions. We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with valuable services and resources.
Or ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
Nasal Cavity and Paranasal Sinuses Cancer
In most cases, nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancers are found because of problems they cause. Finding these cancers in people without symptoms is rare and usually accidental (while doing tests to check for other medical problems). Possible signs and symptoms of these cancers (often only on one side) include:
Having one or more of these symptoms doesn't mean you have nasal cavity or paranasal sinus cancer. In fact, many of these symptoms are more likely to be caused by other conditions. Still, if you have any of these symptoms, it's important to have them checked by a doctor so that the cause can be found and treated, if needed. If treatment (like with an antibiotic) doesn't work, be sure to go back to your doctor for more testing.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
Bossi P, Farina D, Gatta G, et al. Paranasal sinus cancer. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2016;98:45-61.
Dagan R, Amdur RJ, Dziegielewski PT. Tumors of the nasal cavity. Shah S, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, Mass.: UpToDate, 2020. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/tumors-of-the-nasal-cavity. Accessed November 06, 2020.
Leeman JE, Katabi N, Wong, RJ, Lee NY, Romesser PB. Chapter 65 - Cancer of the Head and Neck. In: Niederhuber JE, Armitage JO, Doroshow JH, Kastan MB, Tepper JE, eds. Abeloff’s Clinical Oncology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier; 2020.
Mendenhall WM, Dziegielewski PT, Pfister DG. Chapter 45- Cancer of the Head and Neck. In: DeVita VT, Lawrence TS, Rosenberg SA, eds. DeVita, Hellman, and Rosenberg’s Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology. 11th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2019.
National Cancer Institute. Paranasal Sinus and Nasal Cavity Cancer Treatment (PDQ)–Patient Version. November 06, 2019. Accessed at www.cancer.gov/types/head-and-neck/patient/paranasal-sinus-treatment-pdq on November 09, 2020.
Last Revised: April 19, 2021
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