title: Elevation of plasma osteopontin level in patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated the clinicopathologic relevance of plasma osteopontin (OPN) level in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-two plasma samples were collected from patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) before radiotherapy. Plasma OPN level was determined by quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay. The plasma OPN level was evaluated for its clinicopathologic relevance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean plasma OPN level was significantly higher in NPC patients than in normal controls (184.66 vs 75.89 ng/ml, p<0.001). In addition, high OPN level was found in the patients with advanced cancer and was correlated with neck node metastasis (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings indicated a potential role of OPN in the pathogenesis and nodal metastasis of undifferentiated NPC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: D L-W
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kwong
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sham
authors.forename: W I
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Y L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Kwong
authors.forename: A P-W
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Yuen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D053495:Osteopontin; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C506895:SPP1 protein, human; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins; D053495:Osteopontin