Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is one of the most common tumors in China, and the location of the disease is close to the brain nerves, which may bring serious harm to the human body. Many people think that nasopharyngeal cancer seems to be far away from them, but it is not!
Many celebrities have died of nasopharyngeal cancer, the first thing to mention is the Hong Kong film industry, known for playing the role of bad guys in many Hong Kong classic film and television works of the gold medal supporting role "big fool" Cheng Kui'an! He fought nasopharyngeal cancer for 5 years and eventually died of ineffective treatment for the spread of cancer cells.
In addition, the famous Hong Kong director Chen Musheng also died of nasopharyngeal cancer at the age of 58, which was in the late stage when it was detected.
The picture on the left is Cheng Kui'an, and the picture on the right is Chen Musheng
wary! More than 70% of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer are found to be advanced
The reason why nasopharyngeal cancer is a cancer with Chinese characteristics is because 80% of the world's nasopharyngeal cancer patients are in China, and with the spread of population movement, high-risk groups are as high as 400 million, and the number continues to increase, so special precautions are needed. 80% of the world's NASOPHARYNous carcinoma occurs in China, and 60% occurs in the south, especially in Guangdong, so nasopharyngeal carcinoma is also known as "Guangdong cancer".
"More than 70% of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer who have just been diagnosed are in the middle and advanced stages, which is mainly related to the insidious site of nasopharyngeal cancer and the early symptoms are not specific." Experts from cancer-free homes say that over time, nasopharyngeal cancer will gradually invade the brain and nerves, metastasize to cervical lymph nodes, and even the lungs, and the symptoms will become more and more serious!
Studies have shown that the average interval between nasopharyngeal cancer patients from finding their tinnitus, nasal blood, neck mass to the hospital for treatment is 4.7 months, so many patients have reached the advanced stage of the disease, the cure rate is significantly reduced; at the same time, statistical analysis also found that if nasopharyngeal cancer patients find their own discomfort within 1 month to the hospital for treatment, the average stage of patients is stage II, and the cure rate is as high as 80 to 90%.
Therefore, the experts of the cancer-free home said that nasopharyngeal cancer is not terrible, because the cure rate of early nasopharyngeal cancer is close to 100%, and the efficacy of the middle and late stages is obviously worse than the early stage, so early diagnosis and early treatment are the top priority in the treatment of nasopharyngeal cancer!
These symptoms are most easily overlooked
Early symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer: nasal congestion, nasal discharge, especially aspiring blood (sucking back into the nose and spitting out a mouthful of black streaked sputum when brushing teeth and gargling in the morning), tinnitus, and hearing loss.
Late symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer: common symptoms are neck mass, face numbness, persistent headache, diplopia, if there is a long-term bone pain, persistent cough, chest pain, and even coughing up blood, ascites, it is already very advanced.
What should I do if the nasopharyngeal carcinoma recurs? A new breakthrough in proton heavy ion therapy, the total survival rate of patients in two years is as high as 83.7%!
The treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma is diverse, but radiation therapy is the mainstay
In terms of treatment, due to the special part of nasopharyngeal cancer, unclear boundaries, deep and narrow nasopharyngeal cavity, there are many important blood vessels, cranial nerves, lymphoid tissues, etc., it is difficult to carry out radical surgery; but nasopharyngeal cancer is more sensitive to radiotherapy, therefore, nasopharyngeal cancer treatment is mainly based on radiotherapy, especially proton and heavy ion therapy, as the "king" in "precision radiotherapy", not only can show its skills, but also effectively prevent radiotherapy side effects. For example, Malaysian badminton star Lee Jong-wai and South Korea's new generation idol Kim Woo-bin are examples of successful proton therapy against cancer.
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For patients with localized mid- to advanced NASOPHARY, radiation therapy in combination with chemotherapy or combination immunotherapy is usually chosen to significantly improve survival. At present, immunotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma mainly includes: immune checkpoint inhibitors (not yet approved), adoptive immune cell therapy and EBV-related vaccines.
What should I do if the nasopharyngeal carcinoma recurs? "China's solution" heavy ions make the two-year survival rate soar to 83.7%
With the wide application of intensity-modulated radiation therapy techniques and comprehensive treatment strategies, the disease control rate and long-term survival rate of patients with nasopharyngeal cancer have been greatly improved, but 10% to 15% of patients may still have local recurrence.
Recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma is different from the initial treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and clinical treatment is quite challenging. Most of the nasopharyngeal cancers that recur after intensity-modulated radiotherapy are caused by tumor cells that are relatively insensitive to radiation, and the effect of retracement photon radiotherapy for such patients is often not ideal. What needs to be noted is that the incidence of serious side reactions such as nasopharyngeal mucosal necrosis is high, and patients will have severe headaches and even cause life-threatening bleeding!
In view of the thorny problem of recurrent nasopharyngeal cancer, a latest research result published by a well-known research team in China in the international authoritative journal "Cancer" confirms that the "Chinese program" for the treatment of recurrent nasopharyngeal cancer by heavy ions has been unanimously recognized at home and abroad!
The latest research results show that the 206 cases of locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with heavy (carbon) ions have a two-year overall survival rate of 83.7%, of which most (139 cases, 67%) are locally advanced patients with greater difficulty in treatment.
In contrast, the two-year overall survival rate of patients with retracement photon radiotherapy for relapsed nasopharyngeal carcinoma is only about 60%, and the two-year overall survival rate of patients with locally advanced disease is only 40% to 50%. In addition, the incidence of nasopharyngeal mucosal necrosis, the most common complication of retracement radiotherapy, is only 16%, which is much lower than the 40% of photon intensity-modulated radiotherapy.
A typical carbon ion radiation therapy (cirt) treatment plan with 3 visual fields. The patient, who had locally advanced, locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (t4n0m0 disease), received 63gray of 63gray carboelectric radiation therapy in 21 sessions.
Proton therapy is a "qualitative leap" of tumor radiation!
Proton therapy is to lose electrons of hydrogen atomic nuclei (ie protons), the use of cyclotron or synchrotron to accelerate to about 70% of the speed of light, with positive charge of protons through the accelerator acceleration, become a very penetrating ionizing radiation, at a very high speed into the human body, through a special shape of the device for guidance, and finally reach the target tumor site. Because of its speed, the chance of working with normal tissues or cells in the body is extremely low, and when it reaches a specific part of the tumor, the speed suddenly decreases and stops, releasing maximum energy, producing a "Bragg peak", which can kill the cancer cells without causing damage to the surrounding tissues and organs.
When the tumor is directly adjacent to important organs or structures such as the spinal cord, optic nerve, heart, etc., proton therapy can still effectively treat the tumor while protecting the function of these important organs or structures, which is not possible in conventional radiation therapy.
High radiation doses are shown concentrated at the tumor site with no/very few doses of surrounding normal tissue
Note: The radiation of intensity intensity-modulated proton therapy (impt) in the figure is mainly concentrated around the nasopharyngeal carcinoma lesion, which has no or little effect on the surrounding normal tissue, while the radiation area of intensity intensity-modulated radiation therapy (imrt) is larger, covering the lesion and surrounding normal tissue
The advantages of proton therapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma are irreplaceable
The proton system has an irreplaceable advantage in the treatment of recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
At present, radiation therapy is the radical means of nasopharyngeal cancer, but about 10% of nasopharyngeal cancer patients, after the completion of radical treatment, there may be local tumor recurrence, photon radiotherapy is less sensitive, the effect of tumor control is more limited, even if the use of photon imrt (intensity-modulated radiotherapy) re-radiation therapy, more than 60% of patients may still appear different levels of nasopharyngeal mucosa damage, parotid gland damage, temporomandibular joint injury. Proton-specific advantages in physics bring new treatment opportunities to patients with recurrent nasopharyngeal cancer.
Rationally look at proton heavy ion therapy
Although the cost of proton therapy is currently high, with the popularization of technology, Xiaobian believes that this new technology will gradually reduce and benefit the public. In particular, the process of integrating proton therapy into medical insurance in some parts of China is accelerating, and I believe that in the near future, more cancer friends will use this advanced anti-cancer new technology.
In the field of proton heavy ion therapy, the more developed countries in the world are Germany, Japan, the United States and other countries. At present, there are 4 well-known proton therapy centers operated in China, distributed in Zibo, Lanzhou, Shanghai and Taiwan. The Proton Specialist Consultation Center for Cancer-Free Homes can evaluate the authoritative proton program for patients.
In addition, Xiaobian also reminds patients that in the era of precision medicine, cancer treatment should undoubtedly be more personalized, not limited to one therapy and one technology. Proton therapy cannot "cure all diseases", but is one of the alternative means of comprehensive cancer treatment. Fully combining surgery, drug treatment, radiation therapy and other means to comprehensively treat patients is the guarantee for patients to obtain a better prognosis.