Current Staging Systems for Nose Vestibule Malignancies

The nose vestibule is part of the nasal cavity, yet without a specific topographic code. Like many other cancers, a fully satisfying stratification of nose/paranasal malignancies remains challenging, mainly because of the numerous anatomic sites and subsites from which tumors can arise and because of the heterogeneity of histologic types that show different clinical behavior and outcomes. Over the years, the staging system of nasal and paranasal malignancies has been changed and improved, basing itself upon a better knowledge of the natural history of tumors arising from various sites and subsites, in the attempt to improve the prognostic definition and hence to guide therapeutic decision, simplifying the staging process as much as possible at the same time. Yet, in spite of clear clinical peculiarities, specific staging criteria for nose vestibule malignancies are still undefined in the UICC/AJCC system, leading several authors to resort to other staging systems. In this chapter, current staging options for the nose vestibule are synthetically reviewed.