title: Small cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx.
abstract: Small cell carcinoma is predominantly found in the lung and only about 5% of small cell carcinoma cases have been noted to be extrapulmonary; these are commonly found in the esophagus, pancreas, skin, uterus, and breast. A head and neck origin for small cell carcinoma is extremely rare. Both pulmonary and extrapulmonary small cell carcinomas usually have a good response to chemotherapy initially, but a poor prognosis finally. We report here a case of small cell carcinoma of the nasopharynx. The patient underwent chemotherapy and irradiation for the disease, but died of lung metastasis 38 months later.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital - Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: I-Hung
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chung-Feng
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Hsiu-Yu
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chih-Yen
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chien
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D002330:Carmustine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002945:Cisplatin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005047:Etoposide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant
chemical_list: D005047:Etoposide; D003520:Cyclophosphamide; D002945:Cisplatin; D002330:Carmustine