Levels of plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA prior and subsequent to treatment predicts the prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The level of Epstein-Barr virus DNA (EBV-DNA) in the plasma prior and subsequent to treatment is a reliable biomarker for the screening, diagnosis, monitoring and prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The present retrospective study aimed to determine whether pre- and post-treatment levels of plasma EBV-DNA were predictive of survival in a large sample of patients with NPC. The level of plasma EBV-DNA in 637 NPC patients prior and subsequent to treatment was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The value of pre- and post-treatment plasma EBV-DNA in predicting the survival of NPC patients was then analyzed. The results revealed that pre-treatment plasma EBV-DNA loads were significantly higher in patients with NPC than those in healthy controls (P<0.001). The percentage of patients with positive plasma EBV-DNA was markedly higher prior to treatment (70.64%; median, 1150 copies/ml; range, 0-9.75×106 copies/ml) than following treatment (25.99%; median, 0 copies/ml; range, 0-3.83×106 copies/ml) (P<0.001). Patients with a high plasma EBV-DNA load presented with a higher clinical tumor classification, lymph node status, metastatic status and overall cancer stage. The risk of NPC relapse and mortality was higher in patients with pre-treatment plasma EBV-DNA levels of ≥1,500 copies/ml than that in patients with <1,500 copies/ml. Furthermore, the risk of relapse and mortality was higher in patients with positive post-treatment plasma EBV-DNA than in patients with negative post-treatment plasma EBV-DNA. Detectable post-treatment plasma EBV-DNA was the most significant prognostic factor to affect relapse-free survival, whilst metastasis was the prognostic factor with the greatest effect on overall survival. These data indicated that pre- and post-treatment levels of plasma EBV-DNA were able to predict the prognosis of NPC. This finding may provide novel references for research and clinical practice.

MicroRNA-378 functions as an onco-miR in nasopharyngeal carcinoma by repressing TOB2 expression.

Increasing evidence indicates that microRNAs (miRNAs) has been implicated in the progression and metastasis of numerous cancers. In particular, abnormal expression of miR-378 has been observed in various cancers and is associated with cell survival, migration, invasion, angio-genesis and tumor growth. Our previous studies have shown that miR-378 was decreased in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) plasma and was negatively correlated with NPC progression. However, the tissue expression of miR-378 and its biological function remained unknown in NPC. In this study, we report for the first time that expression level of miR-378 was commonly upregulated in both NPC tissues and NPC cell lines compared to normal healthy nasopharyngeal epithelial samples and human nasopharyngeal epithelial cell lines (NP69), respectively, and was opposite to the reported results in plasma. Functional studies showed that upregulation of miR-378 dramatically promoted cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion in vitro, as well as tumor growth in vivo. Bioinformatics analyses were performed to predict the target genes of miR-378, and the following mechanistic investigations revealed that miR-378 overexpression was able to downregulate the expression of transducer of ERBB2 (TOB2), a potential tumor suppressor, and miR-378 silencing enhanced TOB2 expression. In clinical specimens, TOB2 was widely repressed in tumor tissues accompanied by miR-378 overexpression. Taken together, this study indicates that miR-378 regulates TOB2 and may function as an onco-miR in NPC progression, providing a potential target for gene therapy of NPC.

Positivity of both plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA and serum Epstein-Barr virus capsid specific immunoglobulin A is a better prognostic biomarker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Positivity of plasma Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-DNA or serum virus capsid antigen-specific IgA (VCA-IgA) is a biomarker for the prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The objective of this study was to determine the value of positivity for plasma EBV-DNA and/or VCA-IgA in predicting the survival of patients with NPC. METHODS: Plasma EBV-DNA and serum VCA-IgA in 506 NPC patients in this retrospective study were detected by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay, respectively. The value of positivity for EBV-DNA and/or VCA-IgA in predicting the survival of patients with NPC was analyzed. RESULTS: Patients with positivity for both EBV-DNA and VCA-IgA had significantly shorter periods of relapse free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) than those with positive single measure or negative for both measures, and patients with positive single measure had significantly shorter periods of RFS and OS than those with negative for both. Multivariate analysis indicated that the positivity for EBV-DNA and/or VCA-IgA were significant risk factors for shorter periods of RFS and OS. CONCLUSION: These data indicated that positivity for both EBV-DNA and VCA-IgA was a better biomarker for the prognosis of patients with NPC. Our findings may provide new references for clinical practice.