Nasopharyngeal fleshy tumors are far less common than nasopharyngeal carcinoma. According to statistics, the ratio of nasopharyngeal carcinoma to fleshy tumors in China ranges from 99:1 to 211:1, while in low-incidence regions abroad, the ratio varies from 3:1 to 9:1.

bubble_chart Pathological Changes

The most common type of nasopharyngeal fleshy tumor is cervical malignancy with cachexia, accounting for more than two-thirds of nasopharyngeal fleshy tumors. Others may include fibrous fleshy tumors, vascular endothelial fleshy tumors, melanomas, and so on.

bubble_chart Clinical Manifestations

Nasopharyngeal fleshy tumors are characterized by rapid growth, late metastasis, and a young age of onset. Initial symptoms resemble those caused by adenoid hypertrophy and nasopharyngeal space-occupying lesions, such as stuffy nose and eustachian tube obstruction. Later stages involve bleeding, cervical lymph node metastasis or distant metastasis, ultimately leading to death from cachexia.

bubble_chart Diagnosis

The diagnosis of nasopharyngeal fleshy tumor is primarily based on medical history, clinical manifestations, and nasopharyngeal endoscopy, with the final confirmation relying on biopsy. Nasopharyngeal fleshy tumors rarely cause destruction of the skull base bones. Lymphatic fleshy tumors have a high rate of cervical lymph node metastasis, often involving bilateral cervical lymph nodes, which are relatively soft and can affect various groups of deep cervical lymph nodes.

bubble_chart Treatment Measures

Nasopharyngeal lymph fleshy tumors are sensitive to radiotherapy, with a reported 5-year survival rate of approximately 50%. Chemotherapy also shows good efficacy for lymph fleshy tumors. For cases that are insensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy or experience local recurrence, surgical resection of the primary lesion may be considered if the patient has no surgical contraindications. The surgical approach is the same as that for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.