Seventeen patients with olfactory neuroblastoma seen at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary from 1941 to 1971 are presented. Data on age, sex, symptoms, physical, and roentgenographic findings, and therapeutic results are evaluated. A system of pretherapy staging is proposed in which for Group A, the tumor is limited to the nasal cavity; in group B, the tumor is localized to the nasal acvity and paranasal sinuses; and in group C, the tumor extends beyond the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Olfactory neuroblastoma is a radioresponsive, and, to a limited extent, radiocurable tumor and varies in aggressiveness. Of 17 patients in this series, 13 or 76% were alive without disease following treatment by surgery, irradiation, and combination of these two methods. Uncontrolled primary lesions with or without metastases accounted for all therapeutic failures. A treatment policy for this disease is presented.

An analysis of 36 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal vestibule is made. The small lesions (T1 and T2) are highly curable by radiation therapy alone, with good functional and cosmetic results. The advanced lesions (T3), with bone destruction and metastases, are best treated by radical surgery with or without irradiation if the lesions are resectable. For the inoperable tumors, high dose megavoltage irradiation may offer palliation and, occasionally, an unexpected cure. Of 31 patients eligible for 3-year NED evaluation, 23 or 74% were alive and well without disease, after radiation therapy alone. For the T1, T2,and T3 lesions, the 3-year NED rates were 83,71, and 50%, respectively. A staging system for the primary disease is proposed.