Esthesioneuroblastoma: Results and Outcomes of a Single Institution's Experience

Objectives: Analysis of outcomes of a cohort of patients with esthesioneuroblastoma. Design: Retrospective cohort analysis. Setting: Patients presenting with esthesioneuroblastoma from 1994 to 2006 in a tertiary care academic medical center. Patients: Fifteen consecutive patients diagnosed as having esthesioneuroblastoma were treated during this time period using a subcranial resection. The mean follow-up is 75 months (range, 2 to 240 mos). Results: The overall survival was 100% and the overall disease-free survival was 49% and 24% at 5 and 15 years, respectively. Patients treated with radiation therapy following surgical resection had a 5- and 15-year disease-free survival of 83.3% compared with a 5- and 15-year disease-free survival of 26.7% and 0%, respectively, for patients whose initial treatment was surgery alone. The mean time to recurrence was 82.1 months. None of the patients had a decrease in Karnofsky Performance Score following subcranial resection. Conclusions: Patients with esthesioneuroblastoma whose initial treatment consists of surgical resection followed by radiation therapy have a longer disease-free survival than patients treated with surgery alone. However, initial treatment modality did not have an effect on survival. Long-term, close follow-up is necessary to identify recurrences, which can be treated with a high degree of success.