I thought I had a stuffy nose... it turned out to be a rare aggressive cancer
A woman was diagnosed with a rare form of aggressive cancer after attributing her symptoms to allergies and the common cold.The 37-year-old from China visited her local hospital after suffering nasal congestion, double vision and trouble processing sounds and language for three years. She had also been dealing with a headache and numbness on the left side of her face for nearly a year. At the hospital, doctors noticed the woman had trouble speaking clearly, had hearing loss in both ears, numbness in her face and nosebleeds. She was also using a wheelchair due to having trouble walking.An MRI revealed an 'extensive' tumor in the woman's nasopharynx, the top part of the throat that connects the nose to the respiratory system. The tumor extended to multiple areas of the brain, including the brainstem and the cerebellum, which sits at the back of the head and helps coordinate voluntary movements like walking and speaking. The tumor also extended to the back of the woman's skull and upper area of her spine.Doctors writing about the case in a medical journal diagnosed the woman with stage four nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which starts in the nasopharynx and affects just one in 100,000 Americans ever year. An unnamed 37-year-old woman was diagnosed with rare cancer after suffering a stuffy nose, double vision and auditory processing issues for three years (stock image)
Many cases are thought to be caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, a highly contagious virus that causes cold-like symptoms and affects 95 percent of US adults at some point in their lifetime. Read More Rare and 'unusual' cancers are emerging after Covid - doctors fear an unlikely culprit is to blame Epstein-Barr has also been linked to Hodgkin lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma. Chemicals released in steam from cooking salt-cured foods may also raise the risk of nasopharyngeal cancer by damaging the DNA of cells in the nasal passages. One 2021 study also found Chinese Americans are 10 times more likely to be diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer than white Americans, which could be due to increased exposure to Epstein-Barr and greater consumption of salt-cured foods. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma affects 3,300 Americans a year, or one percent. It's unclear exactly how many people with the specific cancer die in the US annually, but about 12,770 die from oral cavity and pharynx cancers, a group of cancers including nasopharyngeal carcinoma, yearly. And about 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with oral cavity and pharynx cancer each year. Of those diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, two-thirds are diagnosed in late stages - three or four - often because of misdiagnosis. The above MRI images show the woman's cancer before (images A and B, with the tumor circled) and after radiation (images C and D) The above images show the tumor from the overhead and side views. Red lines represent the primary tumor area, while the green lines show surrounding areas. The blue line represents the drainage area for cervical lymph nodes to filter out pathogensIn the woman's case, the authors wrote she 'was repeatedly diagnosed with difficulty as having meningioma or a pituitary tumor in many large hospitals,' including at a specialized neurosurgical center. The doctors treating her wrote: 'The diagnosis remained inconclusive due to reliance on previous inaccurate assessments, resulting in delayed definitive management. She subsequently received supportive herbal therapy, with progressive clinical deterioration.' The woman's case was also considered 'exceptionally rare' because it had spread to the brainstem, which occurs in less than one percent of cases. Doctors believe her case is 'an extraordinary clinical manifestation.' The five-year survival rate for early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma is 81 percent, but that drops to 46 when it extends to more distant areas. Typical symptoms include a lump in the neck caused by a swollen lymph node, nosebleeds, bloody saliva, double vision, ear infections, facial numbness, headaches, hearing loss, nasal stuffiness, ringing in the ears and a sore throat. Doctors suggested surgery, but the woman declined due to concerns about risks and quality of life. She instead underwent multiple rounds of radiation and was fully cured of the disease after. Doctors treating the woman wrote that scans looking at both the brain and the nasopharyngeal area are crucial for detecting this rare form of cancer.
