Extramedullary Plasmacytoma In The Nasopharynx

Eighty year old, male patient presented to our clinic with symptoms of difficult nose breathing, epistaxis and rarely hemoptysis. No abnormalities were seen during oral, anterior nasal and ear examination of the patient. A mass in the nasopharynx was observed during the fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopic examination. The patient was diagnosed as extramedullary plasmacytoma based on the deep biopsy from nasopharynx. Plasmacytomas are tumors of plasma cells, develop outside the bone marrow as solitary masses and they may be associated with multiple myeloma. Cases of extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) in the head-neck area develops rarely. Malignant tumors of the nasopharynx are treated surgically and/or via radiotherapy. Extramedullary plasmacytomas are known to be radiosensitive, however, many authors recommend a combined therapy of surgery and radiotherapy. All the treatment options were explained to the patient, however, the patient did not accept surgery. Therefore, the patient was started on radiotherapy and no recurrences were observed during the twenty-nine-month follow-up period. More caution should be exercised for elderly patients presenting with nasal obstruction, epistaxis, and their nasopharynx as well as nasal cavity should be endoscopically assessed in detail.