How long does it take for nasopharyngeal carcinoma to recur after radiotherapy

If there are patients with nasopharyngeal cancer around us, I believe everyone is familiar with this disease. Nowadays, there are many patients with nasopharyngeal cancer. In the process of treating the disease, many patients are prone to recurrence. As a patient with nasopharyngeal cancer, you must pay attention to the treatment of the disease. So how long does it take for nasopharyngeal cancer to recur after radiotherapy?

Experts say that this issue cannot be generalized because each patient's condition is different.

Patients with symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma recurrence are in great pain and have a poor quality of life. They often experience severe pain in the face and tongue, and in severe cases, they may even feel like dying. They need to take strong analgesics for a long time. The nasopharynx is close to the skull base and the internal carotid artery. Recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma can invade the skull base bone and then spread into the brain, causing severe headaches and cranial complications, and ultimately leading to death.

Recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma often invades the internal carotid artery, leading to fatal hemorrhage. In addition, since patients often have limited mouth opening after radiotherapy, it is very difficult for doctors to stop bleeding. Therefore, they are often helpless and have to watch patients bleed to death. Most nasopharyngeal carcinomas are undifferentiated carcinomas or poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinomas, which are sensitive to radiation. Therefore, radiotherapy is usually the first choice for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Radiotherapy is relatively effective for most nasopharyngeal carcinomas, with a cure rate of about 60%; but 40% of patients still experience symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma recurrence after radiotherapy.

There are many factors that cause NPC recurrence, including tumor biological characteristics, clinical staging, and treatment techniques. The earlier the clinical staging, the better the treatment effect and the lower the recurrence rate. There are also new cancer foci that recur on the basis of local squamous metaplasia after more than 10 years of radiotherapy for NPC.

In order to better prevent the recurrence and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, it is best to perform biological immunotherapy after radiotherapy. Biological immunotherapy can kill residual cancer cells, improve the therapeutic effect of radiotherapy, reduce the toxic side effects of radiotherapy, enhance the patient's immune ability, better prevent metastasis and recurrence, and maximize the survival period.

Recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma is very common. Nowadays, there are many patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. If patients can receive treatment in the early stage of the disease, it is possible to prolong their lives. In the process of treating the disease, patients should also pay attention to the details of their lives so that they can control the disease faster.