RESUMEN
Objective To analyze the different spreading patterns and the prognostic factors of nasopharyngeal adenocarcinoma (NPAC).Methods The clinical and radiological data of 39 pathologically confirmed consecutive cases of NPAC were retrospectively reviewed.Results In the 1 1 patients with CT/MRI-detected cranial nerve (CN)involvement,there were ACC (n=7),CAC (n=2)and MEC (n=2)(P <0.05).Lymph node metastasis occurred in 40% of CAC,7.7% of ACC and 1 6.7% of MEC (P =0.035). Significant differences were observed in 5 year OS and DFS rates between patients with and without CT/MRI-detected CN involve-ment (P <0.001;P =0.001).In 1 9 patients with early stage disease (stageⅠ-Ⅱ),significant difference was observed in 5 year OS rate between the surgical treatment group and non-surgical treatment group (P =0.038),and the difference was not significant in DFS (P =0.056).Conclusion CT and MRI are valuable tools not only for discovering the different spreading patterns of NPAC, but also for its prognosis.