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Pathological examination demonstrated nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinoma. (a) Histological findings indicate clusters of atypical epithelial cells (×100). (b) Cytological results showing atypical epithelial cells with large irregular nuclei (H and E, ×100). (c) Immunohistochemistry showed positive staining for CK19 (×200). (d) Immunocytochemical staining for positive EpsteinBarr virus-encoded RNA demonstrating a network of epithelial cells infected by Epstein-Barr virus (×200) d c
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Background and objectives:
Submucosal nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a rare type, which is usually difficult to obtain tissue samples. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic yield and safety of a new technique of endonasopharyngeal ultrasound-guided transnasopharyngeal needle aspiration (ENUS-TNNA) for submucosal NPC.
Subjects and methods:
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Background:
Recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) after chemoradiotherapy is common, but submucosal recurrence of NPC is rare. The final pathological results determine the optimal therapeutic schedule for treatment of NPC recurrence, but tissue retrieval from submucosal lesions is usually difficult. The present study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of a novel approach of endonasopharyngeal ultrasound-guided transnasopharyngeal needle aspiration (ENUS-TNNA) for submucosal neoplasms in patients with suspected NPC recurrence.
Methods:
Between March 2017 and June 2021, 11 post-chemoradiotherapy patients with suspected magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of submucosal recurrence of NPC underwent ENUS-TNNA. The safety and effectiveness of using ENUS-TNNA to sample submucosal neoplasms were evaluated.
Results:
Needle aspiration biopsies were performed without any incidences in all cases. Out of the 11 patients, nine were diagnosed with submucosal recurrence of NPC via histopathological or cytological evaluations. Of the two puncture-negative cases, one patient had atypical imaging findings and clinical manifestations and was therefore followed-up using MRI. After follow-up for 3 years, this patient was still considered to be cancer-free due to the shrinking diameters of the submucosal lesions. For the other puncture-negative patient, submucosal biopsy samples were obtained using a surgical method. Pathological examination of these biopsies revealed that an angiosarcoma had developed after radiotherapy. There were no severe complications that occurred during the ENUS-TNNA procedure.
Conclusion:
ENUS-TNNA is a safe, effective, and minimally invasive approach to obtain tissue samples from the submucosal region of the nasopharynx for patients with suspected NPC recurrence.
