Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science

Original Article

Otorhinolaryngology
Clinical Characteristics and Prognostic Factors of Nasopharyngeal Cancer.: Chang Hoon Bai, Young Jung Seo, Sang Baik Ye, Young Ho Choi, Yong Dae Kim, Si Youn Song; Yeungnam Univ J Med. 2005;22(1):72-80. Published online June 30, 2005; DOI: https://doi.org/10.12701/yujm.2005.22.1.72

Abstract PDF: BACKGROUND
Nasopharyngeal cancer is a rare disease with a relatively poor prognosis because it tends to be diagnosed at an advanced stage. The aim of this study was to establish the clinical characteristics of nasopharyngeal cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 54 patients with nasopharyngeal cancer from January 1993 to December 2002 were reviewed retrospectively. Forty one cases were male (75.9%) and thirteen were female (24.1%). The average age was of 46.9 (range 16 to 78 years) years. The majority of patients (79.6%) were diagnosed in the advanced stage. The most common complaints were a neck mass (55.5%) and the WHO type III (53.7%) was the most frequent histological type. RESULTS: The cumulative survival rate for a 5-year period was 46.5% and the T stage, N stage, pathologic type, and clinical stage were not significantly related to the survival rate. Sixteen of 54 (31.5%) cases presented with a distant metastasis of the bone, lung, brain, spine, and liver, and six cases (11.1%) presented with a locoregional recurrence. CONCLUSION: TNM staging is not appropriate for predicting survival rate of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. Therefore, a newer staging system, which includes new factors, is needed to predict the prognosis.

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