He'd lived with Sino-Nasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma – one of the rarest forms of cancer – for some years.
The disease resulted in him losing a large portion of his face, including his nose.
Although rare, it's more common in men over the age of 40.
Writing for Mel Magazine, Steve said that he first realised something was wrong in November 2016, when he started to experience chronic nosebleeds.
"Before long, I didn’t own a single T-shirt or pillowcase that wasn’t blood-stained," he said.
"The nosebleeds were accompanied by severe congestion; by the end of each day, my sinuses would plug up completely, leaving me unable to breathe through my nose at all."
He was initally diagnosed with chronic sinusitis, polyps and a deviated septum – despite the fact that his nose was now so swollen that he "looked like a retired boxer".
During a 12-hour surgery, he had his nose, upper gums, all of his upper teeth and two-thirds of his upper plate removed – followed by all of his bottom teeth.
He then had to have 25 radiation treatments and six chemo sessions.
Symptoms of nose cancer
Many of the symptoms of nose cancer are similar to much less serious conditions.
But if you do experience any of these and you don't, say, have a cold, then it's vital you contact your GP ASAP.
Symptoms of nose cancer can include:
- blockages causing stuffiness in one side of your nose that won't go away
- nosebleeds
- decreased sense of smell
- mucus coming from the nose
- mucus draining into the back of your nose and throat
Nose cancers can also cause issues with your eyes, causing double vision, pain, blocked tear ducts or loss of vision.
You may also notice a lump on your face, nose or roof of your mouth that doesn't go away, pain or numbness in the face, swollen glands and pain or pressure in one of your ears
Tragically, even after the inital tumour was removed, the cancer came back – resulting in him losing his right cheekbone, his right jawbone and the rest of his upper-palate.
What causes nose cancer?
Older men are more likely to develop nasal cancers than women.
And you're a lot more likely to get it if you smoke – regardless of your sex. In fact, smoking increases your chances of developing a huge number of cancers.
But it's also a disease associated with jobs where you're exposed to certain chemicals and substances over a long period of time.
These include wood dust, leather dust, cloth fibres, nickel, chromium and formaldehyde.
In fact, when Steve was diagnosed, he was apparently asked if he had ever worked as a carpenter or down a nickel mine.
One in five cases of nasal cancer is also linked to the human papillomavirus (HPV), which most people associate with things like cervical cancer.
HPV affects skin and moist membranes so can attack mouth and throat cells just as much as those down below.
How dangerous is nose cancer?
There isn't much data around survival for nose or paranasal sinus cancers in the UK, but according to Cancer Research UK, around 65 per cent of people survive more than five years if their cancer is caught in the earliest stage.
That drops to just 35 per cent by the final stage.
It really depends on how far the cancer has spread, which parts of the nasal cavity or paranasal sinuses are affected, and what type of cancer you have.
In Steve's case, his tumours ended up spreading to various parts of his face.
Although very rare, squamous cell cancers do actually make up the majority of malignant nose tumour cases.
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