What are the symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis and how to treat it

What are the symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis? How is it treated?

The specific symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis are as follows:

1. Symptoms caused by lymph node metastasis: Cancer cells metastasize to the neck through lymph nodes, forming a lump. A painless lump in the neck is the most obvious symptom of lymph node metastasis. The lump first occurs on one side, grows rapidly, and then affects the other side of the neck.

2. Symptoms of brain metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: Due to the rapid growth of the tumor, severe surrounding edema, and obvious symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, patients will experience clinical symptoms such as headache, vomiting, drowsiness, fatigue, hemiplegia, hemiphasia, aphasia, ataxia, nystagmus, etc.

3. Symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma lung metastasis: nasopharyngeal carcinoma lung metastasis is mostly located in the middle and outer zones on both sides of the lung field, and the chances of metastasis to the left and right lungs are equal. It is often multiple metastasis, with round lesions and smooth edges. About 5% of cases are solitary nodules, which should be differentiated from primary lung cancer. Lung metastasis is often asymptomatic in the early stage. The tumor invades the pleura and causes pleural effusion. The patient coughs, chest pain, and shortness of breath.

Radiotherapy is the first choice for the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Due to the location of the disease, surgery is not the first choice for treatment, but radiotherapy is not a panacea and has many side effects. This is because killing tumor cells through chemical drugs and radiation can reduce the load of tumor cells locally or systemically, and the effect is fast. However, it cannot eradicate tumor cells, is prone to recurrence and metastasis, has great systemic toxic side effects, and is prone to symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, which damages the body's immune function, severely hits the patient's physical and mental health, and seriously dampens the patient's confidence in fighting cancer.