Elevation of plasma osteopontin level in patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

ABSTRACT

AIMS: We evaluated the clinicopathologic relevance of plasma osteopontin (OPN) level in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. METHODS: Seventy-two plasma samples were collected from patients with undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) before radiotherapy. Plasma OPN level was determined by quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay. The plasma OPN level was evaluated for its clinicopathologic relevance. RESULTS: The mean plasma OPN level was significantly higher in NPC patients than in normal controls (184.66 vs 75.89 ng/ml, p<0.001). In addition, high OPN level was found in the patients with advanced cancer and was correlated with neck node metastasis (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicated a potential role of OPN in the pathogenesis and nodal metastasis of undifferentiated NPC.