What is the nasopharynx?

Pharynx is the medical name for the throat. The pharynx is in 3 parts and the nasopharynx is one of these parts. The nasopharynx connects the back of your nose to the back of your mouth. Cancer that develops in the nasopharynx is called nasopharyngeal cancer. Nasopharynx is pronounced nas-o-fa-rinks. Nasopharyngeal is pronounced nas-o-fa-rin-jee-al. You can’t see your own nasopharynx directly, but if you look inside your mouth in the mirror, it lies above your soft palate (the soft area at the back of the roof of your mouth) and uvula (the dangly bit) at the back of the mouth.

The other two parts of the pharynx are

• The oropharynx – the part of the throat just behind the mouth that connects the mouth to the top of the throat. Cancers that start in this area are oropharyngeal cancers. Oropharynx is pronounced oar-o-fa-rinks
• The hypopharynx (sometimes called the laryngopharynx) – it sits behind and on either side of the larynx (voice box). Cancer can also start in the hypopharynx, which is pronounced hy-po-fa-rinks

This section of CancerHelp UK is about nasopharyngeal cancer. There is information about cancer of the oropharynx in the mouth and oropharyngeal cancer section of CancerHelp UK. There is information about cancer of the hypopharynx in the cancer of the larynx section of CancerHelp UK.

Many people get confused about what throat cancer really means. Pharynx is the medical name for the throat.

Throat cancer is not a very exact medical term so doctors generally don’t use it. Many patients and relatives may use throat cancer to mean cancer that develops in any of the 3 parts of the pharynx. People may also use it to mean other structures near the pharynx, such as the thyroid gland or the voice box (larynx). Some people also use it to mean cancer of the gullet (oesophagus).

To avoid confusion, it is important to know the exact medical name of the cancer you or your relative have so that you can find the right information. Cancers are treated according to where they started. For example, the treatment for thyroid cancer is completely different to treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer. If you are not sure of the medical name of your cancer, ask your doctor or nurse to write it down for you.

There is more detailed information about what people may consider to be throat cancer in the questions and answers section of CancerHelp UK.

Like other parts of the body, the neck contains lymph nodes (also called lymph glands). These small, bean shaped glands are part of the lymphatic system. Lymph nodes are often the first place cancer cells spread to when they break away from a tumour.

There are major groups of lymph nodes in the neck. If you have nasopharyngeal cancer, it may spread to these lymph nodes. You may need radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy to treat the cancer in these lymph nodes.

There is more information about the lymph glands and the lymphatic system in the about your body section of CancerHelp UK.

Cancer that begins in the lymph nodes (rather than spreading to them) is called lymphoma. If you are looking for information about lymphoma, this is not the right information for you. You need to go to the non Hodgkin’s lymphoma section or Hodgkin’s lymphoma section of CancerHelp UK.