Talk:Nasopharyngeal carcinoma/Temp
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Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of cancer (a carcinoma) of the lining of the nasopharynx, the portion of the upper respiratory tract that lies behind the nose.
More than 70% of cases of NPC present with metastases to the lymph nodes in the neck, often bilaterally and to the posterior neck. Not infrequently, spread of the cancer through the skull base leads to involvement of the cranial nerves, most commonly CN V and VI, but CN III, IV, VIII, IX, X, and XI may be affected.
Usually nasopharyngeal carcinoma is treated with a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, as surgical resection is difficult due to the anatomic location.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is endemic in parts of Asia and in the Inuit population and is associated with infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes three distinct histologic types of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. WHO type I is keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma and is usually EBV negative. WHO type II is non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma, differentiated. WHO type III is non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma, undifferentiated, and is usually associated with EBV. WHO type III is also characterized by an infiltration of lymphocytes and is sometimes called lymphoepithelioma. This is the type most commonly reported in Asia. Lymphoepithelioma is associated with better survival than the other subtypes.
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