Extra pulmonary small cell carcinomas are extremely rare, accounting for 0.1-0.4% of all malignancies and 2.5-4% of small cell carcinomas. In the head and neck region, the most common primary sites are the larynx, salivary gland, nasal cavity, paranasal sinus, tonsil, and oral cavity. Small cell carcinomas occurring in nasopharynx are extremely rare, to our best knowledge, only four cases of primary nasopharyngeal small cell carcinoma has been described in English literature.
We report another case of nasopharyngeal small cell carcinoma arising in a 46-year-old woman. She accused, for five months, nasal blockage, right hypoacousia, exophthalmos and reduced visual acuity. Cerebral and facial magnetic resonance imaging showed an extensive mass of the nasopharynx with the invasion of sphenoidal body, the diagnosis of disseminated small cell carcinoma of nasopahrynx was established. The patient received three courses of systemic chemotherapy; unfortunately, she died after the third course. The prognosis of such entity is poor and is similar to that for patients with extensive small cell lung cancer.
Key words: nasopharynx, small-cell carcinoma, prognosis
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