What are the treatments for nasopharyngeal carcinoma? Can I work after recovery?

What are the treatments for nasopharyngeal cancer? Can I work after recovery?

1. Most nasopharyngeal carcinomas originate from the reserve cells of the columnar epithelium of the nasopharyngeal mucosa. These reserve cells are primitive multipotent cells that can differentiate into columnar epithelium or squamous epithelium.

2. Symptoms such as nasal congestion, ear closure, tinnitus, numbness of the nasal cavity, diplopia, and ptosis appear. It often occurs in the pharyngeal recess and the anterior wall of the nasopharynx. The primary cancer breaks through the surface mucosa and bloody mucus appears. After getting up in the morning, the nasal secretions often contain blood or blood clots when inhaling, which is also one of the early symptoms.

3. The choice of treatment method for nasopharyngeal carcinoma is determined by the biological behavior of the carcinoma itself. Once nasopharyngeal carcinoma is diagnosed, it grows rapidly because it is often a low-differentiated or poorly differentiated cancer. This type of tumor first grows fast, and second, the cells are highly malignant and sensitive to radiation.

4. Currently, the recognized first-choice treatment method is radiotherapy. The five-year survival rate of early nasopharyngeal carcinoma with radiotherapy alone can reach 80%. Due to the high complications of conventional radiotherapy, three-dimensional conformal or intensity-modulated radiotherapy is recommended. The total irradiation dose to the nasopharynx is 66-70Gy/6.5-7 weeks, the radical dose for patients with positive cervical lymph nodes is 56-60Gy, and the preventive irradiation dose for patients with negative cervical lymph nodes is 46-50Gy.

5. In addition, TCM treatment is also one of the ways to treat nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the early stage. TCM treatment can alleviate the side effects of radiotherapy and improve the patient's body constitution. TCM treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma always adheres to the treatment method that varies according to the person, time and individual. Its treatment of cancer can prolong the patient's survival, improve their quality of life, control the number of acute attacks, reduce pain, and most importantly, it can help some cancer patients survive with tumors.