Cancer of the nasopharynx

Abstract

When managing a patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma there are a number of clinical and imaging factors a clinician will use to make the appropriate staging evaluation and treatment recommendations. In this chapter a sample case of a patient with a poorly differentiated non-keratinizing carcinoma of the lateral wall of the nasopharynx with palpable lymphadenopathy, clinically staged T2N1M0, is used to assist the reader in formulating decisions about the best methods for assessing skull base involvement, the role of PET imaging, the role of viruses in tumorigenesis, and pertinent decisions regarding the treatment of the primary tumor in both untreated and recurrent disease. The unique decisions pertaining to managing the neck nodes and the role of adjuvant chemotherapy are reviewed as well.