Retrospective review of adjuvant chemotherapy for esthesioneuroblastoma

Background Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) is a rare tumor arising from the olfactory epithelium in the upper nasal cavity. Prior reviews have found efficacy of chemotherapy for high grade tumors in the advanced setting. However, little information is available regarding chemotherapy in the adjuvant setting. Methods A retrospective review of 76 patients treated at the Mayo Clinic for esthesioneuroblastoma from 1976 to 2003 was performed to evaluate adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) in these patients. Pathology slides were reviewed to assign Hyam’s grade, and modified Kadish staging was available for all patients used in the analysis. Results Twelve patients were identified to have had full surgical resection of Stage C, high grade (grade 3 or 4) tumors. Six of these patients received AC, and six did not. Most AC was cisplatin and etoposide based. Median time to relapse for patients who did and did not receive AC is 35 and 10.5 months respectively. The median overall survival (OS) for patients that received AC was 83+ (range 21–119+ months). The median OS for patients not receiving AC is 78 months (range 9–240+ months). Conclusions This small retrospective series suggests that adjuvant therapy for patients with high grade, Stage C esthesioneuroblastoma is of benefit following complete resection. Radiation therapy alone provides an improvement in time to relapse, which may be increased further with the addition of cisplatin and etoposide based chemotherapy.