Nasal Cancer: What You Need to Know

Nasopharyngeal cancer (nose cancer) and sinuses account for less than 1% of the tumours. But the nose and the sinus give rise to a greater variety of tumours than any other site in the body. In fact, there are many types of tumours that can arise in the nose and sinuses. The most common are, squamous cell carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and Sino nasal undifferentiated carcinoma.

Other nose and sinus cancers include neuroendocrine carcinoma, mucoepidermoid carcinoma, melanoma and all types of sarcomas. To learn more about nose cancer and sinus cancer, here are some of the things you should know.

Nose Cancer Diagnosis

New onset of blocked nose, frequent nose bleeds, loss of sense of smell, change in vision or double vision, swelling of the face or eye, headaches and numbness of the face. The setumours may not present symptoms and may found during sinus surgery or on CT scans for an unrelated complaint. So, for diagnosis, they require biopsy and having the specimen examined by a pathologist.

Having an experienced pathologist look at the biopsy is critical. There are numerous tumours that can occur in the nasal region. This means treatment can be totally different for two tumours that look very similar under the microscope. Actually, many patients change their opinions when they visit special cancer treatment centres after biopsy review.

Side Effects Sinus Cancer And Nose Cancer Patients Experience

Generally, most people respond treatment well. But since the brain, eyes, nose, and throat are nearby and involved by tumour or affected by treatment, patients may experience dry eye, loss of sense and smell, and more severe symptoms.

As treatment options get better and more of patients are being cured, now it is time to really focus on quality of life issues. There are more developing tools to identify and measure quality of life before, during and after treatment so as to have better understanding of patient’s needs.

Final Thoughts

Although it’s a long way, this is still an aggressive disease with little margin of errors. Given how this tumour rarely occurs, it is really important to deal with an experienced team to treat the condition.

In case you suffer from this disease, you will just have thorough research of professionals who can help you do away this disease. Be sure to do your research to know more about nasopharyngeal cancer (nose cancer).