Nasopharyngeal Cancer

The Nose

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The nasopharynx is the area in the upper part of your throat behind your nose. Nasopharyngeal cancer is cancer of the nasopharynx.

• Nasopharyngeal cancer is most common in people who live in southern China and southeast Asia or in those whose families came from those areas—it’s rare in other groups

• Nasopharyngeal cancer usually causes lumps in your neck

• You may also have congestion in your nose, hearing loss or a feeling of fullness or pain in your ears, and blood in your spit or when you blow your nose

• Doctors treat nasopharyngeal cancer with radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and sometimes surgery

Locating the Nasopharynx

Doctors don’t know the exact cause of nasopharyngeal cancer. They think the Epstein-Barr virus (the virus that causes mono) plays a role. You’re more likely to get nasopharyngeal cancer if:

• You have family members who’ve had nasopharyngeal cancer

• Your diet has a lot of salted fish and foods with nitrates (such as hot dogs, sausage, and deli meat)

• You're from southern China or southeast Asia

The first symptom of nasopharyngeal cancer is usually:

• Lumps in your neck from the cancer spreading to your lymph nodes

Lymph nodes swell when your body has an infection or cancer. Swollen lymph nodes are sometimes called "swollen glands," but lymph nodes aren't really glands.

Other symptoms are:

• Congestion and sometimes bleeding from one side of your nose

• A feeling of fullness or pain in one ear

• Hearing loss in one ear

• Swelling in your face

If doctors suspect nasopharyngeal cancer, they'll look in your nasopharynx using a special flexible viewing tube. If they see something that might be a cancer, they'll do a biopsy (remove a sample of the tissue for testing).

If you have nasopharyngeal cancer, doctors will do tests to see if your cancer has spread to other parts of your body. Such tests may include:

• CT scan

• MRI

• PET scan

Nasopharyngeal cancer is more easily treated when caught early.

Doctors treat nasopharyngeal cancer with:

• Radiation therapy plus chemotherapy

If the cancer comes back after this, doctors may do surgery.

Radiation to your nasopharynx may cause:

• Loss of taste

• Dry mouth

• Trouble swallowing and speaking

• Dental problems, if your teeth were exposed to radiation