Intestinal Sinonasal Adenocarcinoma: a Deceptive Malignant Neoplasm of the Sinonasal Region

Abstract Within the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, adenocarcinomas comprise 10–20% of all primary malignant neoplasms. A considerable number of them originate from the salivary glands, while some are less well-known and resemble colon adenocarcinomas in their histologic makeup. Adenocarcinoma of the sinonasal region that does not arise from salivary glands is often presented as uncommon growths that are frequently misdiagnosed. Less than 4% of all cancers in this region are of the intestinal type, which shares histologic features with that of colon adenocarcinoma. The main age group affected by this malignancy ranges between 55 and 65 years. Workers in the shoe and hardwood industries frequently develop these tumors, and the risk of acquiring adenocarcinoma is enhanced by about 900 times following wood dust inhalation. Not much has been written about these neoplasms in the oral radiology literature, even though they account for about 4% of the primary neoplasms of the sinonasal tract. We present a case of well-differentiated intestinal-type adenocarcinoma (ITAC) of the sinonasal region with paranasal sinus destruction associated with unusual radiographic appearance.