Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Dec 25;15(1):66.
doi: 10.3390/v15010066.

The Dynamic Change in Plasma Epstein-Barr Virus DNA Load over a Long-Term Follow-Up Period Predicts Prognosis in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Affiliations

The Dynamic Change in Plasma Epstein-Barr Virus DNA Load over a Long-Term Follow-Up Period Predicts Prognosis in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Amina Gihbid et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

The current study was designed to investigate the changes in the circulating Epstein−Barr virus DNA load (EBV DNA) at various time points before and after treatment and its clinical significance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A total of 142 patients with NPC were prospectively enrolled in this study. The plasma EBV DNA concentration was measured before and after treatment using qPCR. The prognostic values of the EBV DNA load were analyzed using the Kaplan−Meier and Cox regression tests. Following multivariate analysis, our data showed that high pre-EBV DNA loads were associated with significantly poorer distant metastasis free survival (DMFS) and progression free survival (PFS); detectable end-EBV DNA loads were associated with significantly worse loco-regional recurrence free survival (LRRFS) and PFS, and the detecTable 6 months-post-EBV DNA loads were associated with significantly poorer overall survival (OS), DMFS and PFS (p < 0.05). Additionally, combining the pre-EBV DNA load and the stage of the disease, our results showed that patients at stage III-IVA with a low pre-EBV DNA load had similar survival rates as patients at stage II with a low or high pre-EBV DNA load, but had better survival rates than those at stage III-IVA with a high pre-EBV DNA load. Taken together, we showed that the change of the EBV DNA load measured at several time points was more valuable than at any single time point for predicting patients’ survival for NPC. Furthermore, combining the pre-EBV DNA load and the TNM classification could help to formulate an improved prognostic model for this cancer.

Keywords: TNM classification; biomarker; circulating EBV DNA load; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; prognostic.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest, and the funders had no role in the design of the study nor in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The 4-years’ survival outcomes of patients with NPC according to the EBV DNA load before and at the end of treatment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The 4-years’ survival outcomes of patients with NPC according to EBV DNA load 6 and 18 months after treatment.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Overall survival, (B) loco-regional recurrence free survival, (C) distant metastasis free survival, (D) progression free survival are illustrated for the different subgroups of patients with NPC according to the dynamic change in plasmatic EBV DNA loads.

References

    1. Mlk C., Jts W., Ep H., Atc C. Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Lancet. 2016;387:1012–1024. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00055-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sung H., Ferlay J., Siegel R.L., Laversanne M., Soerjomataram I., Jemal A., Bray F. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries. CA Cancer J. Clin. 2021;71:209–249. doi: 10.3322/caac.21660. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chang E.T., Ye W., Zeng Y.-X., Adami H.-O. The Evolving Epidemiology of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2021;30:1035–1047. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-20-1702. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jia W.-H., Qin H.-D. Non-Viral Environmental Risk Factors for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Systematic Review. Semin. Cancer Biol. 2012;22:117–126. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2012.01.009. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Perri F., Della Vittoria Scarpati G., Giuliano M., D’Aniello C., Gnoni A., Cavaliere C., Licchetta A., Pisconti S. Epstein-Barr Virus Infection and Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: The Other Side of the Coin. Anticance. Drugs. 2015;26:1017–1025. doi: 10.1097/CAD.0000000000000276. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources