China is one of the countries with high incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer, and the incidence rate in the south is higher than that in the north, especially in Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and Hunan provinces, where the incidence rate is the highest and can reach 15/100,000~30/100,000. Nasopharyngeal cancer is difficult to detect by itself, and when some symptoms are detected and examined in hospital, 80% of them are already in advanced stage. However, if serological examination is performed, 90% of patients can be detected at an early stage, and the five-year survival rate of stage I patients can be over 90% after radiotherapy.
It is generally accepted internationally that nasopharyngeal cancer is closely related to EBV. If these two antibodies are positive, the proportion of people suffering from nasopharyngeal cancer is 2% and 30% to 40% respectively. A few days ago, China established nasopharyngeal cancer research centers in Cangwu County, Guangxi and Wuzhou City, respectively, and the results were obtained after more than 10 years of research and observation. Long-term follow-up of antibody-positive people also confirmed that antibodies against EBV shell antigen can be found in the body 5 to 10 years before the onset of nasopharyngeal cancer. It is even more important to be screened for EBV when some early symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer appear.
Generally, there are four manifestations of early nasopharyngeal cancer for self-discovery as follows
1.Nasal bleeding Except for a few occasional nasal bleeding, there are basically no self-conscious symptoms, especially in the morning when blowing nose with blood, we should be more alert.
2. Persistent otitis media manifests as fluid overflow from one side of the ear canal, tinnitus, hearing loss, and fluid accumulation in the tympanic chamber. Such patients should have regular examination of the nasopharynx for early detection.
3.Headache: unilateral intractable headache with diplopia and facial nerve palsy, which is difficult to be relieved by drugs.
4. Swollen lymph nodes in the neck According to statistics, among the early symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, the rate of swollen lymph nodes in the neck is about 70% to 90%, of which 38.5% is the initial symptom. The specific location of the swollen lymph nodes is below the papillary muscle on the upper side of the neck, which is a painless, hard and fixed lump with rapid growth.
Any patient who has the above symptoms for more than two weeks is highly suspicious and should go to hospital immediately for relevant examination for early diagnosis.
The early symptoms of nasopharyngeal carcinoma are diverse and often confused with other diseases of the five senses, resulting in mistakes in diagnosis and treatment, which both patients and doctors should pay attention to.
Stuffy feeling in the ear is one of the most common first symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer. Especially, those who have unilateral stuffiness in the ear should be alerted.
Stuffy ear is a common clinical symptom caused by otitis media, cerumen embolism in the ear, rhinitis, nasopharyngitis and other diseases. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma can also have stuffy ears, but it is usually not taken seriously by patients. This is because nasopharyngeal cancer has high malignancy, early lymphatic metastasis, insidious location and late appearance of local symptoms such as blood in nose and nasal congestion. Therefore, there is a high rate of missed and misdiagnosis of nasopharyngeal cancer in the early stage.
Therefore, middle-aged and elderly people aged 40 to 60 years old, especially male middle-aged and elderly people, should go to ENT department for early examination of nasopharyngeal cancer once they have abnormal sensation in the ear, neck, head and nasal cavity for a long time.