Are the early symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer serious?

What are the early symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer? Is it serious?

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is one of the common malignant tumors in my country and the most common malignant tumor in the Department of Otolaryngology. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma refers to a malignant tumor that occurs in the nasopharyngeal mucosa, often occurring at the top of the posterior wall of the nasopharynx, followed by the side wall, and rarely occurring at the front wall and bottom wall. Most of the patients are middle-aged, but there are also teenagers who suffer from the disease.

The early symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma mainly include:

1. Nosebleed: Except for a few cases of bloody nasal discharge, there are basically no subjective symptoms. Especially in the morning, when the nose is bleeding, you should be more vigilant;

2. Headache: It is a common early symptom of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, accounting for 68.6%. It can be the first symptom or a symptom. In the early stage, the headache is not fixed and intermittent. In the late stage, it is a persistent migraine with a fixed location. The reason for this is that in early patients, it may be caused by neurovascular reflex or stimulation of the first branch of the trigeminal nerve. In late stage patients, it is often caused by tumors destroying the skull base and spreading inside the skull to affect the cranial nerves.

3. Refractory otitis media: manifested by one-sided ear canal discharge, tinnitus, hearing loss, and tympanic effusion. Such patients should have their nasopharyngeal area checked regularly for early detection;

4. Swollen lymph nodes in the neck: According to statistics, among the early symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, the incidence of swollen lymph nodes in the neck is relatively high. The specific location is a painless, hard, fixed lump below the mastoid muscle on the upper side of the neck, which grows relatively rapidly.