title: Cell-free Epstein-Barr virus-DNA in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: Plasma versus urine.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore urinary Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-DNA as a potential biomarker in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
  
  
  
  EBV-DNA copies were estimated in plasma/urine of patients with NPC (n = 76) by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at baseline, during therapy, and at follow-up. Their correlation with EBV-RNA expression in tissues (n = 53) was used to assess sensitivity and specificity of plasma/urine EBV-DNA. Correlation of urine and plasma EBV-DNA with each other and with radiological response was evaluated.
  
  
  
  This study demonstrated that urine EBV-DNA has high sensitivity (96%) at diagnosis and it correlates well with plasma EBV-DNA at baseline and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The EBV-DNA copies reduced significantly with therapy (plasma: p < .001; urine: p = .011). Patients with low EBV-DNA copies demonstrated improved survival (plasma: p = .023; urine: p = .083).
  
  
  
  Plasma EBV-DNA is a good prognostic marker, whereas further study on a larger cohort may help in developing urine EBV-DNA as a surrogate prognostic marker for patients with NPC. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: E1666-E1673, 2016.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Manju
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sengar
authors.affiliation: Chiplunkar Lab, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC), TMC, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Siddhesh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chorghe
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Kamini
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jadhav
authors.affiliation: Chiplunkar Lab, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC), TMC, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Shikha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Sarbani Ghosh
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Laskar
authors.affiliation: Department of Head & Neck Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Prathamesh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pai
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Jai Prakash
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.affiliation: Department of Head & Neck Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Cruz
authors.affiliation: Department of Head & Neck Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaturvedi
authors.affiliation: Department of Head & Neck Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Mandar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deshpande
authors.affiliation: Department of Head & Neck Surgical Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Devendra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chaukar
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Ashwini
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Budrukkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, ACTREC, TMC, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Tejpal
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Vedang
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Murthy
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Shubhada
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Meenakshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thakur
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioimaging, Tata Memorial Hospital, TMC, Parel, Mumbai, 400012, India.
authors.forename: Venkatesh
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rangarajan
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology and Clinical Trial Unit, ACTREC, TMC, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Sadhana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kannan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, ACTREC, TMC, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Tanuja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shet
authors.affiliation: Chiplunkar Lab, Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC), TMC, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Jyoti
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kode
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000821:virology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral
keywords: Epstein-Barr encoding region in situ hybridization (EBER-ISH); nasopharyngeal carcinoma; plasma/urinary Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-DNA; positron emission tomography (PET)-CT; real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)