Circulating EBV DNA as a tumor marker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

摘要

The demonstration of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA in the plasma/serum of patients suffering from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has provided us with a new tool for NPC detection and monitoring. The sensitivity and specificity of using circulating EBV DNA for the detection of NPC, with real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, is 96 and 93%, respectively. EBV DNA level has been shown to be more powerful than existing staging system in predicting outcomes and it could also identify patients with emergent clinical relapse. It is, therefore, expected that this promising molecular tumor marker would soon be incorporated into routine clinical use.