The development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is the result of
interaction between Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and many non-viral factors. The
aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of EBV in NPC biopsies
from Serbian patients and to investigate the correlation between EBV presence
and demographic, anamnestic and clinical data. Ninety-three tissue blocks
were included. For detection of EBV DNA, the C terminus of the LMP1 gene was
amplified by nested-PCR. Twenty-eight biopsies were EBV-DNA-positive (30.1%),
with a statistically significant difference in EBV DNA presence between
geographical regions (p=0.02) and between the stages of tumor-node-metastasis
(TNM) (p=0.02). A correlation was also found with the presence of EBV DNA and
smoking (p=0.02). The correlation of EBV DNA presence, with or without
smoking and the promising outcome of the disease was statistically
significant (p=0.02; p=0.01). The EBV DNA findings from this study confirm
the role of EBV in NPC carcinogenesis, and show the different distribution
among TNM stages and correlation between the virus and outcome of disease.
Progression of understanding for the role of Epstein-Barr virus and management of nasopharyngeal carcinoma