Histopathologic Diagnosis of Sinonasal Tumors: Challenges and the Importance of Establishing the Correct Diagnosis

AbstractPurpose of ReviewSinonasal tumors are a rare and diverse group of neoplasms, each with characteristic clinical behavior and therapeutic implications. Accurate pathologic diagnosis and classification of sinonasal tumors is thus crucial for optimal patient management; however, pathologic assessment of sinonasal tumors can be challenging. Herein, we review the clinical impact of pathologic misdiagnosis of sinonasal tumors and discuss several difficult differential diagnoses in sinonasal tumor pathology that may be particularly prone to misdiagnosis.Recent FindingsA large retrospective study of more than 400 sinonasal tumor patients demonstrated major discordances in the pathologic diagnosis in nearly one-quarter of cases; these discordances were frequently identified using ancillary studies and, importantly, were associated with worse overall and disease-specific survival.SummaryIncreased recognition of challenging differential diagnoses, appropriate application of ancillary testing, improved communication between pathologists and the clinical care team, and/or provision of expert pathologic review in discordant cases may help improve diagnostic accuracy of sinonasal tumors.

Source: Current Otorhinolaryngology Reports - July 27, 2023 Category: ENT & OMF Source Type: research