title: Systematic review on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA in diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Asian populations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To conduct a meta-analysis to investigate the value of EBV DNA in diagnosis of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) in Asian populations, and provide important evidence for screening.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective or respective case-control or cohort studies regarding the detection role of EBV DNA for NPC were included in our study. We conducted a comprehensive literature search in PubMed, EMBASE, and the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM database between January 1980 and March 2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 18 studies with 1492 NPC cases and 2641 health controls were included. Almost of the included studies were conducted in China, and only one other conducted in Thailand. The overall results demonstrated that the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood (+ LR) and negative likelihood (-LR) were 0.73 (0.71-0.75), 0.89 (0.88-0.90), 8.84 (5.65-13.84) and 0.19(0.11-0.32), respectively. The overall EBV DNA detection showed the largest area of 0.932 under the summary receiver operator curve (SROC). The accuracy of detection by plasma for NPC (0.86) was higher than in serum (0.81), with largest areas under the SROC of 0.97 and 0.91, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrated the EBV DNA detection in plasma or serum has high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis of NPC, especially in Chinese populations with a high risk of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Tianjin Baodi Hospital, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Bao-Lin
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Xiang-Ying
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Chun-Zhi
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jian-Juan
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chun-Feng
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Guang-Shun
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shu-Juan
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D002277:Carcinoma; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013785:Thailand
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D004279:DNA, Viral