Early symptoms of sinus and nasopharyngeal cancer

What are the early symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer?

1. Nasal congestion: Nasal congestion is a common early manifestation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. It mainly manifests as unilateral nasal congestion. When the nasopharyngeal tumor grows, bilateral nasal congestion may occur.

2. Headache: About 70% of patients have headache symptoms when they are first diagnosed with NPC. The headache symptoms of NPC are often manifested as unilateral persistent pain, mostly in the temporal and parietal regions. The headache of NPC is mostly related to the invasion of the skull base bones, nerves and blood vessels by cancer tissue.

3. Runny nose and nose bleeding: Runny nose and blood are early symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, manifested as blood in the runny nose, or bloody runny nose sucked out of the mouth. Runny nose and blood usually occur after getting up in the morning. When the amount of runny nose and blood is not large, patients often ignore it and mistake it for rhinitis or sinusitis.

4. Tinnitus and hearing loss: Tinnitus, stuffy ears, and hearing loss are also early signs of nasopharyngeal cancer. These symptoms are caused by the obstruction of nasopharyngeal neoplasms. Tinnitus and hearing loss are often misdiagnosed as otitis media or other ear diseases.

5. Swollen lymph nodes in the neck: Many nasopharyngeal cancer patients often accidentally find a "lump" on their neck. This "lump" is actually an enlarged lymph node. Swollen lymph nodes in the neck of nasopharyngeal cancer patients are often misdiagnosed as inflammation. For neck lumps that do not shrink after anti-inflammatory treatment or even continue to grow rapidly, timely examination and diagnosis are required.