Nasopharyngeal Carcinomas in Children

MALIGNANT neoplasms of the nasopharynx are uncommon in children. In Dargeon's review of 506 cases of childhood malignancies, only 27 were primary in the nasopharynx.1In order of incidence, nasopharyngeal malignant neoplasms ranked behind neoplasms of bone, reticuloendothelial system, soft tissue, the eye and orbit, and the genitourinary tract. Epithelial malignancies occurring during childhood are greatly outnumbered by neoplasms of other tissues. Together with the gliomas and neuroblastomas,carcinomascomprise an estimated 29% of all malignant neoplasms of childhood. Sarcomas, lymphomas, and the leukemias account for 71%.2 The nasopharynx, paradoxically, is one of the more common sites of origin of epithelial malignancy in children. Numerous single case reports attest to this observation.3-7Clinicopathological evaluations of more than one or two patients treated at a single institution are exceptional. The largest single group of patients from one experience, prior to the present report, is the series of seven