Potential factors associated with clinical stage of nasopharyngeal carcinoma at diagnosis: a case-control study

The biological function and diagnostic value of miR-762 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Low diagnostic efficiency and high metastasis and recurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) result in bad survival. A novel diagnostic biomarker is of great importance for the improvement of NPC management. This study aimed to state the biological function and diagnostic values of miR-762 in NPC to provide a novel insight into the detection and therapy of NPC.

METHODS

The expression of miR-762 in NPC and healthy samples was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and its diagnostic value was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The functional roles of miR-762 in the proliferation, migration, and invasion of NPC cells were assessed by CCK8 and Transwell assay.

RESULTS

The significant upregulation of miR-762 was observed in NPC serum compared with healthy controls, which was associated with the TNM stage and lymph node metastasis of NPC patients. The ROC curve showed that miR-762 could be a diagnostic biomarker for NPC with high accuracy and specificity. Additionally, miR-762 served as a tumor promoter, which could promote cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of NPC.

CONCLUSION

The upregulation of miR-762 in NPC is associated with the disease progression and diagnosis of NPC. miR-762 might be involved in the tumor progression of NPC, which provides a potential therapeutic target for the treatment and management of NPC.

Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) Risk Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Association with Lifestyle, Diets, Socioeconomic and Sociodemographic in Asian Region

Objective:

Risk factors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) have been linked with diets, life style and viral infections. NPC is more rampant in Asian populations than non-Asian countries. Our study aims to assess the validity of the suggestions provided by multiple case control studies demonstrating that salted fish consumption, smoking and alcohol consumption are associated with the risk of NPC in Asia.

Methods:

Search for related literature on salted fish, smoking and alcohol consumption were performed via Science Direct, PubMed databases and Google Scholar. Articles included in this study were from 2009 to 2017, with specific focus on salted fish, smoking and alcohol consumption as risk factors of NPC. This study excluded all articles published prior to 2009 and articles involving other cancers. Data were extracted independently by two different researchers and harmonized. Meta-analysis was conducted on the obtained data, by using R package Meta to create funnel and forest plots.

Results:

The meta-analysis revealed that salted fish, smoking and alcohol consumption were significantly associated to NPC risk with random effect model score showing OR of 1.41 at 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.13-1.75 (P<0.01), OR of 1.89 at 95 % CI of 1.49 – 2.38, and OR: 1.42 at 95 % CI of 1.23 – 1.65 respectively. Our results also revealed significant association of salted meat, salted vegetables, house type, wood dust exposure associated with NPC risk with p values less than 0.05.

Conclusion:

This study proposes that salted fish intake, smoking and alcohol consumption might be linked to NPC risk in Asians. Further studies are necessary to ascertain the molecular mechanisms and clarify if the associated path that could function as therapeutic target.

Associations between environmental factors and serological Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in South China

Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV) reactivation, reflected by aberrantly increased levels of various serological antibodies, has been suggested to be an early indicator of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) onset and progression. We have previously suggested that certain lifestyle and dietary factors were associated with elevated serological levels of the antibody against various EBV antigens namely VCA, Zta, EBNA1, and oral EBV DNA loads among healthy population. It remains unclear whether these potential environmental factors would also influence EBV serological antibodies in NPC patients. We conducted an epidemiological study to evaluate the associations between such environmental factors and EBV antibody levels among 1701 NPC patients in South China. Pretreatment serums were collected and examined for VCA‐IgA and EA‐IgA by immunoenzymatic assays and antienzyme rate (AER) of EBV DNase‐specific neutralizing antibody. We found that consumption of Canton‐style herbal tea was significantly correlated with increased serological antibody levels of VCA‐IgA and EA‐IgA, with adjusted ORs of 1.35 (95% CI: 1.03‐1.76) and 1.32 (95% CI: 1.01‐1.73), respectively, in the weekly intake frequency stratum, while not related to AER of EBV DNase‐specific neutralizing antibody. Smoking was found to be not only an apparent risk factor for higher antibody levels of AER in stage III‐IV patients (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.11‐2.30), but also associated closely with NPC stage at diagnosis (OR = 2.17, 95% CI: 1.47‐3.22), with dose‐response effects. In conclusion, we found consumption of Canton‐style herbal tea and cigarette smoking were in positive associations with elevated EBV antibodies in NPC patients, which may be of public health significance for the primary prevention of EBV‐associated diseases especially NPC.