Sinonasal malignancies are rare tumours, which can be resected using an open or endoscopic approach. The current study evaluated the outcome of both approaches.

A total of 160 patients with malignant nasal tumours were evaluated in an academic tertiary care hospital. The patients were allocated to ‘open’ or ‘endoscopic’ surgery groups, based on the surgical approach employed. The following data were evaluated and compared: patient and tumour characteristics; oncological treatments; and oncological outcomes, including complications, surgical margin, recurrence, overall survival and disease-free survival.

The maxillary sinus was the most common tumour location and squamous cell carcinoma was the most common histopathology-based diagnosis. Younger patients had lower grades of tumour. Higher survival rates were significantly related to lower tumour stages in both surgery groups. There were no differences between the two relatively similar groups in terms of surgical margin, the need for adjunctive therapy, and recurrence and survival rates. In addition, multivariate logistical regression analysis indicated no correlations between the type of surgical approach employed and the rates of recurrence and complications.

Endoscopic surgery for sinonasal malignancies is comparable to the conventional open approach in carefully selected patients.