Sinus411.org

The web site for people with sinus problems

Tumors of the sinuses are rare.

The vast majority of tumors of the sinuses are benign, meaning they do not behave like an aggressive cancer: the tumor does not invade tissues, destroy tissues, or spread throughout the lymphatic system. However, these benign tumors can grow and push on other structures, alter the function of other structures, and generally cause problems. Occassionally, surgery to remove benign tumors (before they get bigger) can cause complications.

Inverted papilloma: the most common tumor of the nose

The most common benign tumor is an inverted papilloma, which you might think about as a papillom or "wart-like" growth. This papilloma grows up an out, like any papilloma or wart, and also grows inwards, into the tissues. It can get big, block the nose or sinuses and cause problems. If it gets really big, it can grow into the eye area or up towards the brain.

More importantly, the is a small chance that inverted papilloma can change into cancer of the sinuses: Over a period of many years usually, the papilloma has a 5-15% chance of "malignant degeneration" or conversion to a "true cancer", rather than a benign tumor. A cancer can invade other nearby tissues, and can spread to lymph nodes or other areas of the body.

So inverted papilloma tumors (and other benign tumors for the most part) need to be removed. There are some benign tumors that are "watched", particularly some boney tumors.

We'll try to add more to the web site on those later.