1991 Volume 84 Issue 1 Pages 27-31
Epipharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma developed 10 years after an angiofibroma disappeared following a course of radiation therapy and 20 cryosurgical treatments to control recurrent nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.
The lesion grew rapidly and extensively into the cranial fossa through a bone defect in the skull base, which had been produced by the previous angiofibroma. The epipharyngeal cancer was considered to have been caused by the radiation therapy, since the histological origin of squamous cell carcinoma differs from that of angiofibroma or sarcoma.
A review of the medical literature disclosed 4 cases of sarcomatous transformation of angiofibroma, and 2 documented cases of radiation-induced cancer, although epipharyngeal cancer has never been reported.
Early biopsy should be performed without fear of a bleeding tendency when a new bleeding tumor appears, even if a previous angiofibroma has been successfully treated.
