Nasopharyngeal cancer: a review of cases at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is the second commonest Head and Neck cancer seen at the Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Unit Korle Bu. Eighty. Six patients who were managed for nasopharyngeal cancer from 1st January 1998 to 30'10 September 2002 were studied retrospectively with respect to age, sex, duration or symptoms al presentation, symptoms complex, histology and stage or tumor, and geographical location or patient. The male: female ratio was 2: I. The age range was 6 - 78 years with a mean of 36.7 ± IS.8 years. The peak age of incidence was 10-19 years. The commonest symptom at presentation was a cervical mass, present in 86% of patients. Majority of the patients (60.4%) were below 40 years. Only 25.6% of patients were seen within 6 months of onset of symptoms. Most of lymph node-positive tumors were N3 (64'YQ), 36% or patients had T4 disease and the vast majority, 90.7% had group stage IV disease. Undifferentiated carcinomas formed 62.8% of cases compared to non-keratinizing and keratinizing squamous cell carcinomas that formed 19.8% and 5.8% of cases respectively. Most of the patients originated from the coastal belt.