Vol.102 No.8 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 102 No. 8 August 2009
Clinical Analysis of Juvenile Cases of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
Katsuro Sato and Sugata Takahashi
(Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital)
Six cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma involving patients under 30 years old treated in our department were clinically evaluated. The ages of the cases ranged from 14 to 29 years old (median: 19 years old). Four cases (67％) were male and 2 (33％) were female. Histopathologically, 5 cases (83％) were poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and a single case (17％) was adenocarcinoma. Chief complaints were hearing loss in 4 cases (67％), cervical swelling in one case (17％), and nasal obstruction in one (17％). The clinical stage was Stage I in the adenocarcinoma case, Stage IVA in 4 SCC cases, and Stage IVB in the remaining SCC case. SCC cases were treated by concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. The adenocarcinoma case was treated by transpalatal resection followed by postoperative radiotherapy. Since the most common chief complaints were ear symptoms, observation of the nasopharynx should be performed for otitis media with effusion patients, even when the patient is young. For squamous cell carcinoma of the juvenile nasopharynx, aggressive chemoradiotherapy similar to the treatment strategy for older patients was considered to result in a favorable prognosis. For adenocarcinoma arising in the posterior wall of the nasopharynx, surgical resection followed by postoperative radiotherapy was considered to be an appropriate treatment strategy. In the treatment of pediatric nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases, motivation to perform the complicated treatment in cooperation with the department of pediatrics seemed to be important.
Key words :juvenile, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma