Can nasopharyngeal carcinoma be seen with the naked eye?

Today, countless people have gradually learned about nasopharyngeal carcinoma. At present, patients should not be too nervous when treating nasopharyngeal carcinoma. So, can nasopharyngeal carcinoma tumors be seen with the naked eye?

Due to the hidden anatomical location of the nasopharynx, the early symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma are atypical, and clinical diagnosis is easily delayed, so special vigilance should be taken. Common symptoms are as follows:

1. Nasal symptoms In the early stages, there may be blood or blood when blowing the nose, sometimes not, which will not attract the patient's attention. The continued growth of the tumor will block the nostrils and cause nasal congestion, starting from one side and then bilaterally.

2. Ear symptoms: Tumors occur in the pharyngeal recess, which can compress or block the pharyngeal opening of the Eustachian tube in the early stages, leading to tinnitus, ear closure, and hearing loss. It is easy to misdiagnose it as secretory otitis media clinically.

3. Swollen cervical lymph nodes Cervical lymph node metastasis is relatively common, with 60% of people having swollen cervical lymph nodes as the first symptom. The swollen lymph nodes metastasize to the deep upper cervical lymph nodes, which increase progressively, are hard and immobile, and have no tenderness. They start from one side and then develop to both sides.

4. Cranial nerve symptoms: The tumor invades the skull through the rupture foramen of the pharyngeal recess on the affected side, often invading cranial nerves V and VI first, and then affecting cranial nerves II, III, and IV, causing symptoms of cranial nerve involvement such as headache, facial numbness, limited eye abduction, ptosis, etc. Direct invasion of the tumor or compression of metastatic lymph nodes can cause paralysis of the soft palate IX, X, XI, and XII, choking, hoarseness, and tongue deviation, etc., which occur during cranial nerve damage.

The vast majority of nasopharyngeal carcinomas originate from the covered epithelium, and a few originate from the glandular epithelium. More than 95% are squamous cell carcinomas, with good differentiation, moderate and poor differentiation, and poor differentiation accounts for more than 85%. Undifferentiated carcinoma refers to cancer with a very low degree of differentiation, which is often distinguished from malignant lymphoma.