Palliative Embolization in Recurrent Nodal Bleeding in Nasopharyngeal Cancer: Case Report and Review of Literature.
We have demonstrated this procedure
to be effective in the control of the bleeding in various malignancies in our center. This is
our first case report in a teenaged nasopharyngeal cancer patient who had exhausted all his treatment as he had progressive
disease and recurrent bleeding episodes from the recurrent neck nodal mass.
Embolization is used since 1970 after Duggan introduced this
procedure. It has been used in the treatment of spontaneous and traumatic epistaxis, as a pre-operative procedure to control
operative bleeding in the vascularized tumors; vascular defects and juvenile nasopharyngeal
angiofibromas as well as palliative bleeding in the head and neck tumors.
The embolization involves an embolic agent to be introduced into the lumen of blood vessel
supplying the tumor causing its closure which subsequently minimize and stops the bleeding.
During the course of his treatment he received all standard
treatment options including chemotherapy in
neo-adjuvant, concurrent, adjuvant and palliative forms, radiotherapy, surgery, and immunotherapy.
He had disease progression and occlusion of bilateral jugular venous flow due to tumorous mass
compression. He had recurrent neck nodal mass bleeding which
was finally controlled after external carotid artery embolization with the
help of our dedicated interventional radiologist.
Post-treatment positron emission tomography and computed tomography scan (June 11, 2018) showed almost
complete regression of nasopharyngeal mass with complete resolution of
bilateral para-pharyngeal nodes with residual left upper cervical lymph nodes.
Palliat Med Hosp Care Open J. 2020; 6(2): 16-18. doi: 10.17140/PMHCOJ-6-138
