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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffResearchers have identified some risk factors that appear to increase your risk of developing nasopharyngeal carcinoma, including:
- Sex. Men have about double the risk of developing cancer of the nasopharnyx as women do.
- Race. This type of cancer more commonly affects people in Asia and northern Africa. In the United States, Asian immigrants have a higher risk of this type of cancer than do American-born Asians, which may be related to differences in diet. The Inuits of Alaska also have an increased risk of nasopharyngeal cancer. Additionally, blacks are significantly more likely to develop nasopharyngeal cancer than are whites.
- Age. Most cases of nasopharyngeal cancer occur in people between the ages of 30 and 55.
- Salt-cured foods. Chemicals released in steam when cooking salt-cured foods, such as fish, preserved vegetables and Chinese herbs, may enter the nasal cavity, increasing the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. In China, nasopharyngeal carcinoma has been linked to high consumption of salted fish, and as people in Southeast China are adopting a more Western diet, their rates of nasopharyngeal cancer have been declining.
- Preserved meats. Preserved meats contain high levels of nitrates, which may increase the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- Epstein-Barr virus. This common virus usually produces mild signs and symptoms, such as those of a cold. Sometimes it can cause infectious mononucleosis. Epstein-Barr virus is also linked to several rare cancers, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma. In fact, the Epstein-Barr virus can be found in almost all nasopharyngeal cancer cells.
- Family history. Having a family member with nasopharyngeal carcinoma increases your risk of the disease, though researchers aren't sure if this association is due to genetic or environmental factors.
