Life-threatening Bleed Secondary to Tumor Shrinkage Effectively Palliated with Radiotherapy

Abstract

Inverted papilloma is a typically benign, but locally aggressive tumor arising from the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Malignant transformation can occur in up to 10% of cases. Although spontaneous tumor bleeding can occur with malignancies, hemorrhage secondary to tumor shrinkage has not been reported. We present a patient with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (from inverted papilloma) who developed a life-threatening bleed shortly after chemotherapy initiation. She was managed successfully with life-saving palliative radiotherapy (RT), delivered based on clinical markup. She was subsequently re-treated with highly conformal RT and chemotherapy to achieve a marked clinical response without surgery.