Home > Cancer and Treatments > Head & Neck Cancers

Sinus Cancer

Sinus cancer is better defined as paranasal sinus and nasal cavity cancer.

Paranasal Sinuses: "Paranasal" means near the nose. There are several paranasal sinuses named after the bones that surround them:

  • The frontal sinuses are in the lower forehead above the nose.
  • The maxillary sinuses are in the cheekbones on either side of the nose.
  • The ethmoid sinuses are beside the upper nose, between the eyes.
  • The sphenoid sinuses are behind the nose, in the center of the skull.

Nasal Cavity: The nose opens into the nasal cavity, which is divided into two nasal passages.

The most common type of paranasal sinus and nasal cavity cancer is squamous cell carcinoma. This type of cancer forms in the squamous cells (thin, flat cells) lining the inside of the paranasal sinuses and the nasal cavity.

For more information, please visit UofMHealth.org's Health Library entry: Paranasal Sinus and Nasal Cavity Cancer Treatment

There is hope, innovation and support available for those with sinus cancer here at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Patient Care and Treatment
The Head and Neck Oncology Program follows a team approach to care. Our patients with sinus cancer have their situation discussed not only by our head and neck oncologists, but also by team surgeons and pathologists. By having everyone involved, a personalized treatment plan is developed. In most cases, this discussion happens the same day as the appointment.

Research and innovation: The Head and Neck Oncology Program received a Specialized Program in Research Excellence (SPORE) grant -- this allows our researchers to explore many different avenues (including stem cell research) to combat this type of cancer. It also means they can quickly move what proves to be successful in the laboratory to patients in the clinic.

Support
Since our program is part of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, our patients have access to Patient/Family Support Services. To fully understand what this means, please take time to visit the For Cancer Center Patients area of this website. We outline the services available to our patients at every point in their care.

Make an appointment/referral

To make a first time appointment, please call the Patient Care Center at 877-308-9111 (Monday-Friday, 8am-5:30pm EST). If you would like to refer a patient, please contact our M-Line service: 800-962-3555. For more information, visit our Make an Appointment web page.

Still have questions?

The nurses at Cancer AnswerLine™ have answers. Call 1-800-865-1125 and you'll get a personal response from one of our registered nurses, who have years of experience in caring for people with cancer.

Return to top

Small Text SizeMedium Text SizeLarge Text Size
Adjust text size

Speak with a Cancer nurse: 1-800-865-1125
make a donation
Clinical Trials
Head and Neck cancer trials
on UMClinicalStudies.org

Related Services