Central nervous system metastasis from nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a report of two patients and a review of the literature.

Background: Central nervous system (CNS) metastasis from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an extremely rare occurrence, although direct intracranial invasion is not infrequent in patients with NPC at a locally advanced stage. Only five other patients have been reported in detail in the English literature.

Methods: The clinical records of two such patients with NPC who were diagnosed with metastasis to the spinal cord (intradural) and to the occipital lobe, respectively, were reviewed.