Clinical and paraclinical characteristics of pediatric nasopharyngeal cancer patients at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital during the period 2019-2024
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Abstract
Pediatric nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a rare malignancy, accounting for less than 1% of all cancers. Characterizing the clinical and paraclinical features of this patient population is crucial for early diagnosis and for guiding appropriate therapeutic strategies. This retrospective descriptive study examined 38 pediatric NPC patients under 18 years of age at Vietnam National Cancer Hospital from January 2019 to December 2024. The results showed that the male-to-female ratio was 2.8/1; all cases were undifferentiated carcinoma and 57.9% had elevated plasma EBV-DNA levels (≥ 300 copies/ml) at diagnosis. The most common presenting symptom was cervical lymphadenopathy (78.9%). Morphologically, the exophytic form predominated (94.8%), and tumors had often involved the entire nasopharynx at diagnosis (55.3%). All patients presented at an advanced stage, with stage III accouting for 57,9% and stage IVA accouting for 42,1%.
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Keywords
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, pediatric cancer, clinical characteristics, paraclinical characteristics
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