Symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer invading into the skull mainly include headache, numbness of facial skin, tongue symptoms, eye symptoms, intracranial hypertension and balance disorder.
1. Headache. Tumor destroying the base of skull or brain nerves can cause head pain, which is the most common symptom.
2. Numbness of facial skin. It is manifested as the decrease or loss of pain or touch sensation, usually due to the invasion of the tumor into the trigeminal nerve in the cavernous sinus, the anterior region of the foramen ovale and other parts.
3. Tongue symptoms. The main manifestations are atrophy of tongue muscle and tongue extension deviation, direct invasion or lymph node metastasis to the posterior region of the cavernous sinus or the hypoglossal nerve canal, involving the hypoglossal nerve.
4. Ocular symptoms. The manifestations are ptosis, fixation of the eyeballs, and possibly loss of vision, associated with involvement of the optic nerve, the motor nerve, and the orbital cones.
5. Intracranial hypertension. Symptoms of intracranial hypertension such as nausea and vomiting may occur.
6. Balance disorders. There may be symptoms of balance disorder or even hemiplegia.
If nasopharyngeal cancer is suspected to invade into the cranium, one should seek medical treatment in time to control the progress of the disease.