What Are the Early Symptoms of Nasal Cancer?

Nasopharyngeal cancer is a clinically common malignant disease and a type of nasal cancer. The early symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer may not be obvious, so many people may not associate the symptoms they experience with nasopharyngeal cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the specific symptoms comprehensively. Clinically, the treatment of nasopharyngeal cancer also requires targeted therapy. So, what are the early symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer? Here are some examples:

1. Bleeding

Bleeding may occur in the early stages, manifesting as blood in the sputum after sniffing or blood in the nasal discharge when blowing the nose. In the early stages, there may be only a small amount of blood in the sputum or nasal discharge, which may appear intermittently.

2. Dermatomyositis

Dermatomyositis can also lead to the occurrence of nasopharyngeal cancer, as it can coexist with nasopharyngeal cancer. Therefore, patients with dermatomyositis should undergo careful examination of the nasopharyngeal area, regardless of whether they have symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer.

3. Ptosis and Fixed Eyeballs

Nasopharyngeal cancer is associated with oculomotor nerve damage. It can cause visual impairment or loss, which is related to optic nerve damage or orbital cone invasion.

4. Cervical Lymph Node Metastasis

Nasopharyngeal cancer is prone to cervical lymph node metastasis, with a rate of approximately 60.3% to 86.1%. Half of these cases are bilateral metastases. Cervical lymph node metastasis is often the first symptom of nasopharyngeal cancer. In a few patients, the primary lesion cannot be detected through nasopharyngeal examination, and cervical lymph node metastasis is the only clinical manifestation. This may be related to the small size of the primary lesion of nasopharyngeal cancer and its extension into the submucosal tissue.

5. Facial Paralysis

Facial paralysis refers to numbness of the facial skin, with decreased or absent pain and touch sensation upon clinical examination. Tumor invasion of the cavernous sinus often causes damage to the first and second branches of the trigeminal nerve; tumor invasion of the foramen ovale, pterygoid process anterior region, and third branch of the trigeminal nerve often causes numbness or abnormal sensation in the anterior part of the auricle, temporal region, cheek, lower lip, and chin.

6. Otitis Media

The opening of the Eustachian tube in the ear is located in the pharyngeal recess, which is an important structure for maintaining normal middle ear function. The predilection site of nasopharyngeal cancer is precisely the pharyngeal recess. If nasopharyngeal cancer occurs, it is most likely to affect the function of the Eustachian tube, leading to secretory otitis media and ear symptoms.