Adenocarcinoma of the ethmoid sinus; report of an unusual case.

T GMOHR of the nasal cavity a re not unusual. There are many reports describing both bpn ign and ma lignant t umors, but even the largest series contain few examples of adenocarcinoma. Most of the malignant tumors of the nasal cavity are squamous or transitional cel l carcinomas and relatively fe w a re adenocarcinomas. Geschikter (3) reported a series of 211 tumors, including both benign and malignant. All 15 adenocarcinomas of this series showed evidence of mucin secretion. However, in only one t umor \\'as t his featme sufficipntly prominent to \\'arran t t he term mucinous adenocarcinoma. Watson presented 127 cases of primary cancer of paranasal sinuses and emphasized t hp difficulty in ident ifying the exact site of origin of these tumors. Eleven of the tumors \\'ere adenocarcinomas but none were described as producing mucm. Gerty (2), E lli s (1 ), and "Munson and Munson (4) each reported one case of adenocarcinoma in or around the ethmoid sinus. Almost all mucou. -secreting fun ction had been lost by these tumors. This mucous-secreting property is !"are in nasal canrer ; therefore, the authors Il'ish to report a case of adenocarcinoma of the ethmoid sinus in Irh ich mucoussecret ing was a major featu re of t he tumor.