About chemotherapy for nasal and sinus cancer

Men and women discussing nasal and sinus cancer

This page has information on chemotherapy for cancers of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. You can find information about

A quick guide to what's on this page
What chemotherapy is
Chemotherapy and radiation together (chemoradiation)
Chemotherapy to shrink a large cancer
Chemotherapy to control a cancer that has come back
Dietary or herbal supplements and chemotherapy
General information about chemotherapy

About chemotherapy for nasal and sinus cancer

Chemotherapy means treatment using anti cancer or ‘cytotoxic’ drugs.

Chemoradiation

You may have chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the same time. You may hear this called synchronous therapy or chemoradiation. Your specialist may suggest chemoradiation if you are not fit enough to have surgery. Or because your cancer has spread to other parts of your body. Chemoradiation can be quite tough treatment to get through. You will have some tests to make sure you are fit enough for it. If not, you may still be able to have radiotherapy alone

Chemotherapy to shrink a large cancer

If your cancer has not spread to other organs, but is too big to operate on, your doctor may suggest chemotherapy before surgery. The aim is to shrink your cancer so that it is possible to remove it. But this is not used commonly.

Chemotherapy to try and control a cancer that has come back

You may have chemotherapy on its own if your cancer is advanced, or has come back after treatment with surgery or radiotherapy. This can help to relieve your symptoms and may slow the growth of your cancer.

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Chemotherapy means treatment using anti cancer or 'cytotoxic' drugs. These drugs disrupt the growth of cancer cells and destroy them. The drugs circulate in the bloodstream around the body.

You may have chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the same time for some types of nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancers. You may hear this called synchronous therapy or chemoradiation.

Your specialist may suggest chemoradiation if you are not fit enough to have surgery, or because your cancer has spread to other parts of your body. Or you might have it after surgery, to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back.

Chemoradiation can be quite tough treatment to get through. You will have some tests to make sure you are fit enough for it. If not, you may still be able to have radiotherapy alone.

There is information about the side effects of chemoradiation in this section of CancerHelp UK.

If your cancer has not spread to other organs, but is too big to operate on, your doctor may suggest chemotherapy before surgery. But this is not used commonly. Your doctor may call this neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The aim is to shrink your cancer with chemotherapy before your surgery so that it is possible to remove it, or so that you can have a smaller operation. Occasionally you may have this treatment to help preserve nearby organs, such as the eye. This is more likely if you have a rarer tumour, such as a sarcoma. This type of treatment is still being investigated.

We don't yet know much scientifically about how some nutritional or herbal supplements may interact with chemotherapy. Some could be harmful. It is very important to let your doctors know if you take any supplements. Or if you are prescribed them by alternative or complementary therapy practitioners.

Talk to your specialist about any other tablets or medicines you take while you are having active treatment. There is information about the safety of herbal, vitamin and diet supplements in the complementary therapies section of CancerHelp UK.

Some studies seem to suggest that fish oil preparations may reduce the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs. If you are taking or thinking of taking these supplements talk to your doctor to find out whether they could affect your treatment.

For more about chemotherapy, look at the chemotherapy section in CancerHelp UK. It explains the treatment in more detail including

If you would like more information about chemotherapy, ask your chemotherapy nurse or contact a cancer information organisation. They will be happy to help.