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What does nasopharyngeal cancer rely on for cancer cell clearance after 33 rounds of radiotherapy and 4 rounds of chemotherapy?

时间:2026-04-15 人气:
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"I didn't take it seriously at first, but now I feel scared just thinking about it..."


58Mr. Zhao, at the age of 58, proves through his personal experience that

one should not take "rhinitis" lightly.



01

             

             
Disease Overview

Overview of the illness


     
A suspected patient with "rhinitis"

In 20199 months, Mr. Zhao began experiencing symptoms such as nasal congestion, decreased hearing on the right side, and tinnitus. At the time, he did not pay much attention, thinking it was just some symptoms caused by rhinitis. It was not until 3 months later that Mr. Zhao noticed swelling on the right side of his neck, which made him nervous and prompted him to seek medical advice.


In 20201 month, Mr. Zhao underwent neck ultrasound, endoscopy, pathological examination, and neck MRI.


     


The result shocked Mr. Zhao: (Right nasopharynx )Non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma “Undifferentiated type”. At this moment, Mr. Zhao realized that he did not have rhinitis at all, but rather nasopharyngeal cancer .

Unlike most tumors, nasopharyngeal cancer has a unique location and is relatively sensitive to radiotherapy. Therefore, Mr. Zhao chose chemotherapy instead of surgery, and underwent a combination of +radiotherapy, including 4 rounds of chemotherapy and 33 rounds of radiotherapy, over a period of 4 months, and completed the treatment on 2020 year 4 month 22 day.


   
After 4 rounds of chemotherapy and 33 rounds of radiotherapy, have the cancer cells been completely eradicated?
     

Mr. Zhao's nasopharyngeal cancer crisis was not resolved.


Due to his nasopharyngeal cancer being classified as an undifferentiated non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma, with low cell differentiation, high malignancy, rapid tumor cell growth, and a high risk of early lymphatic and hematogenous metastasis, the treatment is challenging and the prognosis is relatively poor.


The overall 5-year survival rate for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients after radiotherapy is 45% to 50%. After standard treatment, approximately 20% to 30%of patients experience recurrence or metastasis, and those with recurrence or metastasis have a poor prognosis[4]. When Mr. Zhao was diagnosed, he had already been found to have right cervical lymph node metastasis, which made him and his family deeply aware of the "malignancy" of the cancer cells in his body. After completing standard treatment, he still felt uneasy and hoped to eliminate the nasopharyngeal cancer cells more thoroughly, so as to make the potential risk of recurrence or metastasis in the future more controllable.


     



   
After conventional treatment, what is used to eliminate residual cancer cells?
     

The three conventional cancer treatment methods—surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy—cannot completely eliminate all cancer cells, especially the micrometastatic lesions. The final cleanup work (clearing the remaining cancer cells in the body) still relies on the body's immune system as a built-in "biological scavenger" to serve as a supplementary mechanism to complete it.


Therefore, Mr. Zhao and his family sought out Professor Zhang Minghui, an immunology expert from Tsinghua University. Professor Zhang's research focuses on vNKT cells, known as "specialized immune cells," which can enhance the immune system's "dual clearance" mechanism: stronger killing ability against cancer cells and enhanced immune clearance function; Identify cancer cells attempting to escape, strengthen the immune surveillance "firewall", and simultaneously, immune cells will develop "memory" and continuously repeat the process of "recognizing - and killing cancer cells", providing patients with long-term resistance to cancer cells and rebuilding the immune system.


     
vNKT cell immunotherapy              


NKT cells (Natural killer T cells), are a special T cell subset with both T cell receptor (TCR) and NK cell receptor on their surface. They possess important characteristics of both NK cells and T cells, with the dual ability to recognize tumor cells nonspecifically and specifically, and can rapidly kill tumor cells. Among the NKT cell subsets, there is a larger and more potent special soldier discovered by the experimental team led by Professor Zhang Minghui of Tsinghua UniversityvNKT (Variant Natural Killer T) cells              


The population of vNKT cells in the body is very small and they are not easily activated. However, once activated, they can be extremely effective in killing tumor cells that may remain undetected in the body. Additionally, research has found that vNKT cells have a dual anti-tumor effect. They can not only directly kill cancer cells but also regulate the immune microenvironment within tumor tissues, killing inhibitory immune cells such as MDSCs, breaking tumor immune evasion, rebuilding the normal immune system, and further preventing recurrence and metastasis.
             

Experimental conditions: In the presence of vNKT cells, after 16 hours, nearly all B16 tumor cells were killed!

After comprehensive disease assessment by Professor Zhang Minghui's team, Mr. Zhao has completed chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and it is now the appropriate time for intervention with vNKTcell therapy. Since 2020year 6month to 2023year 11month, Mr. Zhao has undergone 24courses of vNKTcell therapy, achieving good expected results. Nasopharyngeal cancer has the highest metastatic potential among all head and neck cancers, and it has achieved long-term stability under the effective control of vNKTcell immunotherapy. Meanwhile, Mr. Zhao's quality of life has also been greatly improved during this period, with significant improvements in both physical strength and mental state.    

   
   
   

     

Nasopharyngeal imaging findings: In January 2020, the nasopharyngeal mucosa was extensively thickened, and the right nasopharyngeal wall was thickened to form a mass, extending outward to involve the right parapharyngeal space. From August 2020 to March 2022, the mass disappeared upon follow-up examination. The right pharyngeal recess and the pharyngeal ostium of the Eustachian tube were narrowed, and the parapharyngeal fat space was narrowed. Considering the medical history, it was considered to be a post-treatment change. On September 29, 2022, April 18, 2023, and December 26, 2023, follow-up examinations showed that the pharyngeal ostium of the Eustachian tube was shallower than that in March 2022, while the rest remained unchanged compared to previous findings.




02          

           

      

Conclusion and Review< H208>

Conclusion and Commentary          
Living with cancer and living a wonderful life are two important points          
    

Nasopharyngeal cancer is not uncommon, especially in China!


Many people may rarely hear of nasopharyngeal cancer, but in fact, patients with nasopharyngeal cancer are not uncommon in China. Worldwide, 80%  of nasopharyngeal cancer patients are in China[1], and the incidence rate of nasopharyngeal cancer in Guangdong region of China is even 20 times higher than that in other low-incidence areas. Therefore, nasopharyngeal carcinoma also has another name, "Guangdong cancer [2]."

Treating cancer as rhinitis? These 5 symptoms are signs of nasopharyngeal cancer
       

1. Nasal congestion

This is the symptom most easily confused with rhinitis. Nasal congestion caused by rhinitis can usually be alleviated through medication. However, many symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer, although somewhat similar to those of rhinitis, are generally not responsive to treatment with medication. If long-term nasal congestion occurs, it is recommended to seek medical attention.


       


2. Blood in nasal mucus

A typical early symptom of nasopharyngeal cancer is the presence of blood streaks or clumps in nasal mucus when forcefully inhaling from the nose, especially upon waking up in the morning.


       


3. Painless enlargement of cervical lymph nodes

In patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, approximately 60%80% initially present with cervical masses[3], usually in the retroauricular and upper cervical regions.


       


4. Headache

Headaches caused by early nasopharyngeal cancer are usually intermittent, often located on one side of the temporal, parietal, or occipital regions, and manifest as throbbing or sharp pain. Such headaches may be related to tumor invasion of the skull base or cranial nerves. As the disease progresses, the headache may gradually worsen, even becoming persistent, and symptoms may be more pronounced at night.



       
       


5. Hearing problems

may be ear congestion, tinnitus, or hearing loss. When the tumor blocks the eustachian tube opening, tinnitus and ear congestion appear, and further progression leads to hearing loss. At this time, it must not be misdiagnosed as an ear disease.

Looking back and comparing with Mr. Zhao's earliest symptoms, 5of the major symptoms match with 3items. It is important to pay attention to the differentiation of early symptoms, as health is not trivial.


       


Remember to share the life-saving knowledge with your family and friends and forward it


. Reference sources:

[1]Long Z, Wang W, Liu W, et al. Trend of nasopharyngeal carcinoma mortality and years of life lost in China and its provinces from 2005 to 2020. Int J Cancer. 2022; 151(5):684-691.

[2]Miao Xu, Youyuan Yao, Jianjun Liu, et.al. Genome sequencing analysis identifies Epstein–Barr virus subtypes associated with high risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Nature Genetics 17 June 2019

[3]Zhang ZengxiaoJiang JiaxinJiang YanThe pattern of nasopharyngeal carcinoma invading and developing around [J]. Chinese Journal of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, 2022, 57(11) : 1378-1383.

[4]He Meilin,Yi Junlin.Current status of treatment for recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma[J].Chinese Journal of Radiation Oncology, 2021, 30(11):1202-1208.





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Zhang Minghui          

Founder of Lehexin Medical


         

Professor Zhang Minghui, a PhD in Immunology from Tsinghua University School of Medicine, has led a research team for over 20 years since the discovery of vNKT cells in 2002. They have accumulated treatment experience in over 700 cases of solid tumors, covering almost all common solid tumors. The research results fully demonstrate the great value of vNKT cells in the treatment of solid tumors.



It is suitable for postoperative patients with high pathological malignancy or a risk of recurrence; patients whose tumors have been basically controlled but not cured through conventional treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy; patients with persistent high carcinogenic factors; and patients intolerant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. If these patients do not receive effective follow-up treatment after traditional anti-tumor therapy, recurrence, metastasis, or reoccurrence of tumors will be highly probable. In this case, vNKT cell therapy is an ideal follow-up treatment method, which can significantly improve the prognosis of patients.


Written by Zhang Tuo      
Reviewed by: Qiao Jiacheng, Wang Ying, Gao Chen      
Edited/typeset by Zhang Jiao


   

     

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