Nasopharyngeal carcinoma generally affects any one side of the patient’s body. The disease is marked by symptoms like a continuous whistling or ringing sound in any one ear (the condition is medically referred to as tinnitus), pain on any one side of the neck and face and nasal congestion affecting any one nostril. A patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma might also experience nasal bleeding; the bleeding might not stay limited to only the congested nostril.

The advanced signs of this cancer type mostly take some time for appearing. Examples of such symptoms include noticeably swollen lymph nodes on the patient’s neck, vision problems like blurred vision or double vision, frequent episodes of ear infections and severe headaches. The tinnitus, which was an indicator of the initial stage of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, can take the shape of hearing loss as the disease progresses. Soreness of the throat keeps on increasing as the nasopharyngeal carcinoma enters its advanced stages.

As mentioned before, the disease is extremely rare in the United States. This makes diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma extremely difficult in the country. A number of initial signs of nasopharyngeal carcinoma mimic less dangerous medical conditions. This causes delay of cancer diagnosis; majority of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients of USA come to know about their disease when the cancer has already invaded other body parts. Late stages of nasopharyngeal carcinoma are mostly treated with radiotherapy or chemotherapy or a combination of both. Surgery is only suggested if the diagnosis has occurred in an early stage of the disease.

Nasopharyngeal cancer is a type of cancer that forms in the soft tissues of the nasopharynx.

There are different stages of nasopharyngeal cancer therefore once a person has been diagnosed with this disease it is necessary for tests to be performed to determine which stage that person is at. By determining that it will be easier to determine what stages of nasopharyngeal cancer treatment is needed to correct the problem or at least slow down the progression of the cancer.

Some of the symptoms that may indicate the presence of this cancer include sore throat, ringing or pain in the ears, difficulty hearing, talking or breathing, severe headaches and nose bleeds as well as the presence of lumps in the nose of lymph nodes on one side of the neck. Chinese or Asian ethnicity as well as exposure to Epstein-Bar virus may also be a factor in the onset of this type of cancer.

Each different stage of nasopharyngeal cancer may and often does include one or more of the standard treatments for this disease. For each stage of the disease there are also one or more stages of nasopharyngeal cancer treatment that are used for that stage.

Stage I

The most often used treatment option is radiation to the tumor and the lymph nodes located in the neck. In some cases this is also when clinical trial options are presented and used.

Stage II

Treatment sometimes includes both chemotherapy and radiation treatments. The radiation therapy used is generally the same as that that is used in stage I treatments.

Stage III

It may involve a treatment plan that utilizes all three standard methods of treatment being radiation, chemotherapy and surgery. The radiation therapy used is often the same as that used in stages I and II and may be followed with an operation to remove any lymph nodes that still contain cancer or return after radiation therapy or to remove tumors that are still present.

Stage IV

All methods are used starting with radiation and progressing to surgery. In some cases additional chemotherapy may be used to treat any cancer that may have spread to other locations. Clinical trials may also be introduced or re-presented at this time especially if all previous treatments have failed.

After all stages of nasopharyngeal treatment have been utilized and been determined ineffective or unsuccessful an individual may once again be given the option of participating in various clinical trials. If these are also unsuccessful it may be necessary to undergo some treatments such as radiation therapy or chemotherapy a second time.

Nasopharangeal cancer occurs when cancer cells develop in the tissues of the nasopharynx. Although this is a throat cancer it is not the same as others and has a higher risk. Some of the symptoms of this type of cancer include things such as difficulty breathing, speaking and hearing in addition to unexplained nose bleeds, headache, nose or throat lumps and ringing or pain in the ears. Chinese or Asian heritage as well as exposure to Epstein-Barr virus may also play a role in developing nasopharyngeal cancer. There are four stages of nasopharyngeal cancer.

Once it has been determined that an individual is infected with this type of cancer there are tests that need to be performed to determine if the cancer is confined to the nasopharynx or has spread to infect other areas. The process of determining this is referred to as staging. In the staging process information is gathered and then used to confirm what stage of the disease a person has. This is important in order to properly plan a successful course of treatment for the cancer. In many cases the same tests used to confirm the presence of this disease are also used to determine the stage.

Stage I

In the first stages of nasopharyngeal cancer the cancer is limited only to this particular area.

Stage II

This stage is separated into two sections. In stage II-A the cancer has progressed from the nasopharynx to the middle of the throat which includes the tongue, tonsils and nasal cavity. Stage II-B means the cancer has spread to lymph nodes on one side of the neck.

Stage III

This stage means the cancer has spread even further to include lymph nodes on both sides of the neck, the nasal cavity, areas around the pharynx, or nearby bones.

Stage IV

This stage is separated into three sections. Stage IV-A of this type of cancer means that the cancer has affected areas beyond the nasopharynx and possibly even the nerves of the cranium, as well as the bottom of the throat, jaw, eye bones and lymph nodes. Stage IV-B means the cancer has now progressed to include the collar bone. Stage IV-C is the last of the stages of nasopharyngeal cancer and indicates that the cancer has now moved beyond the lymph nodes to infect other parts of the body.

There are three basic ways that a cancer may spread throughout the body. These ways include tissues, lymph system and blood. Once tissue has been infected it can spread beyond that to infect healthy tissue surrounding this area. When cancer gets into lymph nodes it can move through these vessels to other areas. After the blood is infected the cancer can use the blood vessels to travel throughout the body.