Epstein-Barr virus serology in early detection and screening of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common cancer among Chinese, especially Southern Chinese; except for a few other ethnic groups with moderate incidence, it is otherwise a rare cancer in the world. NPC has a male dominance of about 3:1 and mainly afflicts people in mid-life. There is now compelling evidences to suggest that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a category I human tumor virus defined by UICC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) in 1997, is a causal agent of NPC and is most likely to be involved in the multi-step and multi-factorial development of NPC. In this article, the role of EBV in pathogenesis of NPC is reviewed briefly, and principle applications of EBV antibodies and EBV DNA as markers of NPC are outlined. Based on current knowledge of EBV antibody responses by NPC and taking available testing technologies into account, serologic screening strategy to facilitate efficient early detection of NPC is formulated.
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong SAR, P. R. China. hrmmnmh@hkucc.hku.hk
Mun-Hon
MH
Ng
Kwok-Hung
KH
Chan
Sze-Park
SP
Ng
Yong-Sheng
YS
Zong
D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000097:blood; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000097:blood; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D012737:Sex Factors
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral; C041788:Epstein-Barr viral capsid antigen; C033305:Epstein-Barr virus early antigen; D007070:Immunoglobulin A