Nasopharyngeal Cancer

　　What is nasopharyngeal cancer?

　　Nasopharyngeal cancer is malignant cancer that starts in the mucous membrane of nasopharynx. It is threatening people’s health and life with its enormous hazard that can not be neglected.

　　High risk group of nasopharyngeal cancer

　　There is quite an obvious difference of nasopharyngeal cancer incidence between different races. It happens more often to yellow race, like Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, than white race. Incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer among middle-aged and old people is higher than that among infants and teenagers, with a starting point of sharp rising at age 30 and reaching its peak at age between 40 and 60 and gradually going down after 65.

　　What are the risk factors of nasopharyngeal cancer?

　　1. EB virus infection: study proved that EB virus infection has much to do with nasopharyngeal cancer. After infected by EB virus, human body will produce many corresponding antibodies.

　　2. Environment and diet: environment is one of the factors that related to nasopharyngeal cancer. Moreover, excessive intake of salted fish and preserved foods are also high risk factors of nasopharyngeal cancer.

　　3. Hereditary factors: ethnicity or family aggregation on a nasopharyngeal cancer patient indicates that the nasopharyngeal cancer is probably a hereditary disease.

　　What are the early signs of nasopharyngeal cancer?

　　1. Nose bleeding: nose bleeding is one of the early symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer. It usually appears with bleeding in a single nostril.

　　2. Stuffy nose: nose stuffiness is mild when the tumor is small. It increasingly becomes heavy as the tumor grows. And it also appears with one single nostril stuffy.

　　3. Tinnitus or hearing declining: when the tumor obstructs or compresses the pharyngeal opening of auditory tube, it can cause to the corresponding ear symptoms like tinnitus, muffled hearing, hearing loss or eardrum effusion.

　　4. Headache: it may be the first or only symptom that occurs, which is intermittent and unfixed.

　　5. Lump in the neck: there will be few lumps in the neck caused by nasopharyngeal cancer metastasis, which grow rapidly with hard texture and poor activity but no tenderness.

　　6. Cranial nerve symptoms: such as facial numbness, diplopia, blurred vision, eyelid droop, cockeye, sensation loss of the pharynx, soft palate numbness, swallowing difficulty, hoarseness, tongue deviating from the midline when stretched out.

　　What examinations can be taken to detect nasopharyngeal cancer?

　　1. Nasoscopy

　　2. Biopsy

　　3. EB( Epstein-Barr) virus serological test

　　4. CT scan

　　5. B-ultrasound

　　6. MRI

　　What are the treatment methods for nasopharyngeal cancer?

　　So far, treatment methods for nasopharyngeal cancer include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, symptomatic treatment with Chinese medicine, and principally combination of Chinese medicine and Western medicine. For nasopharyngeal cancer that is small and has no metastasis, the best treatment method is surgery, after which 5-year survival rate can excess 80%. In a certain time after surgery, performing radiation therapy and chemotherapy, combined with Chinese medicine, is helpful in preventing recurrence.

　　With the fast development of medical technology, minimally invasive therapy for nasopharyngeal cancer has drew much attention of the medical circle, as it possesses many unique advantages that have never been possessed by traditional treatment methods, such as being minimally invasive, causing less bleeding, being able to eliminate patient’s painfulness and can improve the patient’s life quality. It is clinically practical and has become many patients’ preference of nasopharyngeal cancer treatment.

　　Postoperative care for nasopharyngeal cancer patients

　　1. Dietary care

　　Proper diet care can evidently improve the patient’s immunity. Diet for nasopharyngeal cancer patients should involve abundant fresh vegetables, fruit, high-protein and calorie foods, and avoid smoked, roasted, fried and preserved foods.

　　2. Life care

　　Avoid physical tiredness, such as heavy labor, staying up late and excessive exercise. During rehabilitation, patients should pay attention to their local hygiene, for example, wash mouth everyday, wash the nasopharynx cavity when necessary, and do not have tooth extraction within one year.

　　3. Mental care

　　Comfort the patients and let them know about the process of their condition, care about them and try to meet every proper requirement of them, help them maintain active attitudes towards life.

　　Other supports you can get from Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou

　　Study proved that a muti-disciplinary medical group, which is composed of surgical oncology, medical oncology, department of traditional Chinese medicine, pathology department, department of radiology, anesthetist and professional nurses, can make a more effective, more suitable and more economical treatment plan so as to improve the effect of cancer treatment.

　　Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou, with its multi-disciplinary “one-stop” medical system, offers comprehensive diagnosis and treatment service to patients. It not only offers patients with all-round considerate medical service, but also improves the medical efficiency and level without increasing patient’s burden. Communication channels between patients and doctors are various, which include online consultation, email, on-phone communication and face-to-face communication. All these communication channels allow patients to enjoy the service of consultation and help them fight against cancers. Medical groups that services patients include doctors, nurses, dietitians and interpreters, by whom all levels of needs of patients from different countries can be met. Under this smooth communication environment, patients can peacefully cooperate with the treatment.