This study is a retrospective analysis of 216 cases of malignant tumours of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, treated from 1965 to 1980. The mean age at diagnosis was 59 years, 70 per cent were men and 30 per cent women. There were 121 (56%) epidermoid carcinomas, and 31 (14%) adenocarcinomas. Three-year and five-year actuarial survival rate was 40 and 33 per cent respectively for epidermoid carcinomas, 72 and 50 per cent respectively for adenocarcinomas. Recurrences occurred in 46 per cent of epidermoid carcinomas and 42 per cent of adenocarcinomas. Early diagnosis is important to improve the survival rate, and radical primary treatment should be carried out to reduce the rate of recurrence.