Head & neck cancers: What you’ll see, how to proceed

What is the diagnostic strategy? Presentation tends to mimic common, nonmalignant conditions, such as sinusitis, until invasion into adjacent structures. When sinonasal passages are involved, the history might include epistaxis or nasal discharge; facial or dental pain; unilateral nasal obstruction with unexplained onset later in life; and failure to respond to treatment of presumed rhinosinusitis. Physical examination should include assessment of cranial nerves, palpation of the sinuses, and anterior rhinoscopy.

Thin-cut CT of the paranasal sinuses is the first-line imaging study. Sinonasal endoscopy, with targeted biopsy of suspicious lesions, is the evaluation of choice when malignancy is suspected.

How is it treated? Surgery is the treatment of choice, with postoperative radiation for patients at higher risk of recurrence because of more extensive disase.¹² Five-year survival for advanced disease is poor (35%); only 15% of cases are diagnosed at a localized stage because presenting symptoms are nonspecific.²¹

Nasopharyngeal cancer

What you need to know. Nasopharyngeal cancer is rare in the United States and Europe, compared with China, where it is endemic (and where a variety of risk factors, including intake of salt-preserved fish, have been proposed²²). Epstein-Barr virus infection and a history of smoking increase the risk.

Patients with nasopharyngeal cancer can present with epistaxis, nasal obstruction, and auditory symptoms, such as serous otitis media. Direct extension of the tumor can lead to cranial-nerve palsy, most commonly III, V, VI, and XII.²³

Continue to: What is the diagnostic strategy?