MALIGNANT NEOPLASMS OF THE NASOPHARYNX - RESEARCH

Joey Ku

Malignant Neoplasms of the Nasopharynx:

It is a cancerous disease which harmful cells (cancer)

form a tumor in the tissues of the Nasopharynx (behind the nose).

The Nasopharynx starts behind the nose and ends at the

top of the windpipe and to the esophagus. The nostrils lead to the Nasopharynx. On each side of the Nasopharynx is an opening to an ear.

What causes it?

Having an ethnic background- mostly Asian backgrounds* Being infected to the Epstein - Barr virus (type of herpes

virus) which can increase the chances of getting cancer Exposed to wood dust after working with wood over an amount of time Smoking
*(As stated by W. H. Novick, G. Shimo, D. R. Ryder, W. J. Pirozynski, J. J. Hazel, and J. Bouchard who wrote the medical knowledge article on Malignant Neoplasms of the Nasopharynx for the Canadian Medical Association Journal. It says, It is increased incidence among the Chinese is well documented and in Hong Kong it represents 18% of all tumors as compared to 2% in New York. There is further evidence that this lesion occurs with increased frequency among the Maltese and also among white South American males.)*

Signs of Malignant Neoplasm of the Nasopharynx includes:

Sore throat Trouble Breathing Pain or numbness around the cheek area Trouble Hearing Blurred, double or loss of vision Slurred Speech Lump in the nose or neck Nose bleed

Headache
Pain or ringing in the ear Tooth Ache

In Depth
Everything begins with cells, as old ones die they divide and create new ones in its

place as part of development. The life of a cell begins when it is formed from a parent cell and divides itself and forms two daughter cells. These cells are genderless but words parent and daughter are used to describe a link from its predecessor to the next. As the cells divide, its DNA is copied onto the next set of cell generations.
However with cancerous cells, they divide themselves excessively and destroy tissues.

Cancer cells may stop dividing at their own will without having to complete normal cell checks. The cancer cells then goes to the normal cell system and evades their checking system that can cause a cell to undergo the apoptosis procedure which if there is a problem that cell would be depleted.

In Depth (continued)
A cancer cell begins when the cell in a tissue goes under

transformation from a normal cell to a cancer cell. The bodys immune system recognizes the cell as a threat to the body and instead destroys it. If the cancer cell avoids getting destroyed, it can grow and form a mass of abnormal cells within a normal tissue. If the abnormal cells stays in its place and only make a few changes to its genetic structure to survive, this would be known as a Benign tumor. Benign tumors normally wouldnt cause problems and could be removed by surgery. But if the abnormal cells change its cellular and genetic structure to enable them to spread and harm other tissues that would impair one or more parts of the body or even organs, this would be known as a Malignant tumor or a Malignant Neoplasm.

In Depth (continued)
Malignant tumors can cause the individual massive change

effects such as loss of weight, vision impaired and others. The abnormal changes on the cell surface causes cancer cells to lose joints that are connected to other neighboring cells which then allows them to spread into nearby tissues. Cancer cells may also give out signals to cause blood vessels to grow towards the tumor. Some tumor cells may separate from the original, travelling through the blood vessels and to other parts of the body where it then may grow into another tumor. The spreading of cancer cells to other locations from their original locations is called Metastasis. With malignant neoplasm of the nasopharynx, these cells are found under the lining of the Nasopharynx, which then becomes abnormal and later into cancer cells. It then spreads itself onto nearby normal living tissues and forms a tumor.

Sources used:
http://famona.tripod.com/ent/cummings/cumm075.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1928727/?page=1 http://www.rma.gov.au/SOP/96/167.pdf http://www.medicinenet.com/nasopharyngeal_cancer/page2.htm http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/NasopharyngealCancer/DetailedGuide/

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