[Clinical peculiarities of nasopharyngeal cancers]

Nasopharyngeal carcinomas are very different from other malignancies of the upper digestive and respiratory tracts. Very uncommon in France, mostly undifferenciated, they occur in all decades, even in children or young adults, with a sex-ratio of 3/1, and without connection with alcohol and tobacco. Their insidious onset leads to the first manifestation as cervical metastasis, or evidence of intracranial involvment. The 5 years Survival rate is 30 p. 100: failures are local or distant metastases, principally in the skeleton. Destruction of the base of the skull and supraclavicular nodes yield poor results. Trials on systemic chemotherapy are in progress.