Health Science | Start prevention and control of nasopharyngeal cancer as early as possible, and start popularizing knowledge from an early age!

Introduction

The World Health Organization has proposed that cancer is a chronic disease, and bad living habits are one of its causes. In my country, the incidence of tumors is showing a trend of getting younger, and cancer prevention knowledge is easily neglected from middle school to university, and young people generally lack cancer prevention knowledge. Healthy living habits should be cultivated from an early age, so teenagers and middle school students should become important targets of science education. The earlier you master cancer prevention and treatment knowledge, the more likely you are to stay away from cancer! ### Q1 Is cancer really a terminal illness?

With the continuous advancement of diagnosis and treatment methods, the effect of cancer treatment is constantly improving. If cancer can be detected in the early or middle stages, the cure rate is very high, usually reaching more than 70% to 90%; some cancers (including nasopharyngeal cancer) can still have about a 50% chance of cure when they are in the late stages; however, if cancer metastasizes to the brain, liver, lungs, bones, etc. in the late stages, the treatment effect drops sharply and the possibility of cure is almost lost.
Whether cancer is discovered early or late is not only related to the level of cancer diagnosis technology, but also closely related to whether the public has mastered the scientific knowledge related to cancer. If you learn and master the scientific knowledge of cancer, check your body regularly, identify the signs of cancer yourself, and detect and treat it early, cancer will not be a terminal illness. On the contrary, if you do not have a basic scientific understanding of cancer, you are unaware of the "signs of cancer" after they appear, and you allow the cancer to continue to grow in your body. If you go to the hospital for treatment when it becomes unbearable, it is very likely that you are in the late stage of cancer and have almost lost the chance of being cured. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a terminal illness.

Q2 What is nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC)?

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor originating from the nasopharyngeal epithelial tissue. It is usually highly malignant, grows rapidly, and is prone to distant metastasis in the late stage of the disease. In terms of treatment, radiotherapy is the first choice for better results. ### Q3 Is there any relationship between nasopharyngeal inflammation and nasopharyngeal carcinoma?

Inflammation of the nasopharyngeal mucosa, submucosal and lymphoid tissue is called nasopharyngitis, which is divided into acute nasopharyngitis and chronic nasopharyngitis. Patients with nasopharyngitis have dry and uncomfortable nasopharyngeal pharynx, viscous secretions that are difficult to discharge, so nasal congestion is frequent, often accompanied by nausea. In severe cases, there are local or systemic symptoms such as hoarseness, sore throat, headache, dizziness, fatigue, indigestion, and low fever.
Epidemiological studies have shown that the risk of nasopharyngeal cancer in people with chronic nasopharyngitis is about twice that of the normal population. The reason for this may be related to the nitrosamines and their compounds produced by local bacteria in the nasopharynx. Their long-term chronic stimulation, together with other genetic and environmental factors, induces nasopharyngeal mucosal epithelial carcinogenesis. ### Q4 Which celebrities have suffered from nasopharyngeal cancer?

In 2018, world badminton superstar Lee Chong Wei was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer and has now successfully completed treatment. In addition to Lee Chong Wei, other celebrities who have nasopharyngeal cancer include: Li Xuejian, a veteran Chinese actor who played Song Jiang in the TV series "Water Margin", Cheung Tat-ming, a Hong Kong comedy star who became famous for his role opposite Stephen Chow, Cheng Kui-an, a well-known "Big Fool" by Chinese audiences, and Korean star Kim Woo-bin. ### Q5 What is the medical treatment for suspected nasopharyngeal cancer?

If you have tinnitus, blood in the nose, stuffy nose, headache, neck nodules and other symptoms related to suspected nasopharyngeal cancer, or if the Epstein-Barr virus blood test result is positive, please be alert to the potential risk of nasopharyngeal cancer, go to the hospital in time to rule out the possibility of nasopharyngeal cancer, and avoid delaying the disease. Usually, you can go to the ENT and other related specialists for treatment. If you highly suspect nasopharyngeal cancer, you can go directly to the radiotherapy department. Once diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer, you should usually go to the radiotherapy department (or the oncology department or nasopharyngeal cancer department with radiotherapy equipment) for treatment.

Of course, if you have tinnitus, bloody mucus, nasal congestion, headache and other symptoms related to suspected nasopharyngeal cancer, or if the EB virus serological screening result is positive, you should be vigilant but don't need to panic. After all, the overall incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer is low, and related symptoms of nasopharyngeal inflammatory diseases may also occur. A positive EB virus blood test result can only mean that the risk of nasopharyngeal cancer is increased, which is completely different from actually having nasopharyngeal cancer.