Introduction: Nasopharyngeal malignancy is one of the most frequent head and neck cancers in adults, most often developing as an epithelial carcinoma, and is invariably present by the time cervical lymphadenopathy develops. In this review, we document the frequency, features, risk factors and histopathology of nasopharyngeal malignancy in adult Saudi adults attending the Otolaryngology clinic.

Methods: Clinical history was taken from 100 individuals attending the Otolynryngology clinic. This was followed by an examination, a CT scan and fiber-optic rhinoscopy to assess these patients. When a nasopharyngeal mass was found, it was removed and sent for histopathology and tissue diagnosis.

Results: 24% of the patients tested positive for a nasopharyngeal mass, resulting in a frequency of 1.4 % in individuals with a nasopharyngeal mass with all sufferers being male. Nasal obstruction, nasal discharge, headache/facial pain and enlargement of cervical lymph nodes were most common clinical features

Conclusions: Nasopharyngeal malignancy was reveled in 6% of nasopharyngeal mass sufferers with preponderance for the male gender.

Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Saudi Arabia, Nasopharyngeal soft tissue mass