Maarten Vasbinder lives in Isaan. His profession is general practitioner, a profession that he mainly practiced in Spain. On Thailandblog he answers questions from readers who live in Thailand and writes about medical facts.
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Dear Martin,
A family member of ours who is 40 years old has suddenly come down with Cavun Epstein Barr disease. He is in stage 1. The tumor is located behind the nose in the cavity. The tumor is NOT operable. Chemotherapy and radiation will be the approach.
Question to Maarten: What do you think of this approach, are there alternatives in terms of approach. Are there other medications? How do you estimate the chances of survival? What can be the residual symptoms after chemotherapy and radiation of the face, such as possible facial deformities. 83.000 people only seem to have this disease, so not very interesting possibly for the pharmaceutical industry.
Hope you can say something sensible about this.
Regards,
R.
*****
Dear R,
Cavum Carcinoma is indeed associated with the Epstein Bar virus (Kissing disease). The usual treatment is indeed chemotherapy and radiation. The tumor is not operable, because it quickly metastasizes.
Stage I has a favorable prognosis. It is a fast growing tumor. so the sooner you treat it, the better. 80% of the tumors disappear after treatment and the 5-year survival time is around 50%. The side effects are not too serious.
Here is an article with a lot of information, but also ask the treating physician: www.cancer.net/cancer-types/nasopharyngeal-cancer/types-treatment
Yours faithfully,
Dr. Maarten