Abstract
Only three cases of primary multiple cancers of the maxillary sinus and thyroid gland were reported in the past Japanese literature. This report deals with a case of multiple cancers in a 71-year-old woman which occured simultaneously in the maxillary sinus and thyroid gland. She complained of left nasal bleeding without other symptoms. On otolaryngological examination, a bloody, little-finger's head sized tumor mass was observed in the left nasal cavity, and the anteromedial wall of the left maxillary sinus was seen to be destroyed on X-ray and CT scan examinations. Histologically, the tumor in the left maxillary sinus was diagnosed as poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma.
She received a combination therapy consisting of 4, 000rads Linac irradiation, intraarterial NK 631 pepleomycin and necrotomy in one month. However, five months after the initial treatment, the tumor recurred at the base of the maxillary sinus and a left submandibular lymphnode was found to be swollen. When partial maxillectomy and left modified neck dissection were performed, one of the metastatic lymphnodes showed the feature of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland and the others were adenocarcinoma of the left maxillary sinus.
No signs of carcinoma of the thyroid gland were found clinically or on laboratory examination. Two months after the operation, left hemithyroidectomy for the small tumor located at the upper region of the left thyroid lobe was performed. The tumor was 8mm in diameter and histologically the same as the above papillary carcinoma. The malignancy became uncontrollable and she died about four months afterwards.
