RESEARCH ARTICLE
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Metastatic to the Mandible
Po Hsien Huang1, Yih Chuen Shyng2 , P Sloan3 , Keng-Liang Ou4 , Y. J. Hsia5 , H. Devlin*, 6
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2010Volume: 4
First Page: 195
Last Page: 197
Publisher ID: TODENTJ-4-195
DOI: 10.2174/1874210601004010195
Article History:
Received Date: 18/2/2010Revision Received Date: 12/8/2010
Acceptance Date: 16/8/2010
Electronic publication date: 21/10/2010
Collection year: 2010

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most common malignancies in the head and neck region, especially among those of Chinese origin. NPC has multifactorial aetiologies including genetic susceptibility, consumption of food with high salt content, and the Epstein–Barr virus. The primary tumour usually arises from the lateral walls of the nasopharynx and is characterized by a rich sub-mucosal lymphatic structure, often leading to cervical lymph node metastasis. Distant metastasis has been recognized to be a major cause of treatment failure in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Bone, liver and lung are the most frequent sites of NPC metastases.