MALIGNANT NASOPHARYNGEAL TUMORS IN ICELAND

From 1965 to 1990, 46 cases of malignant nasopharyngeal tumours were d iagnosed in Iceland. The incidence rate is as low as in other Western countries, 0.6/100 000 per year. Histo-pathological diagnosis were as follows: Undifferentiated carcinoma 45%; squamous cell carcinoma 300/0 ; non-keratinizing carcinoma 7%; and plasmacytoma 9%; lymphoma 7%; rha bdomyosarcoma 2%. Four per cent were diagnosed at stage I, 13% at stag e II, 29% at stage III and 54% at stage IV. The overall crude survival al 10 years from diagnosis was 28.3%. The following factors were foun d to have a prognostic value: Stage of disease, size of tumour (T-clas sification) and age at diagnosis. Nodal stage (N-classification) alone and sex were not found to be prognostic factors. There was no differe nce in survival among the different WHO types of cancer. Patients with carcinoma were all treated with radiotherapy. The survival of those w ho received more than 60 Gy was better than of those who received 60 G y or less (p = 0.04).