THE NASOPHARYNX is relatively inaccessible. This space has been termed "an obscure area,"1 a "blind spot,"2 a "hidden cavity,"* an "unknown region,"5 and "the most neglected area in otolaryngology"6 (Fig. 1).
INCIDENCE
During a five-year period (1948-1953), at the Los Angeles County General Hospital, 16 primary malignant tumors of the nasopharynx were observed. Since 1942, at the White Memorial Hospital, there have been observed 17 cases of primary malignant growth in this region. Of these 33 patients, the youngest was a 16-year-old girl, the oldest a 70-year-old man. The majority were in the sixth and seventh decades. There were 25 males and 18 females. There were 24 Caucasians, including 4 Mexicans, and there were five Chinese, two Japanese, one Filipino, and one Negro. The 1950 United States census gives as the racial distribution in the metropolitan Los