A STUDY ON EXPRESSION OF LATENT MEMBRANE PROTEIN 1 OF EPSTEIN BARR VIRUS IN NASOPHARYNGEAL CARCINOMA IN SOUTH INDIA

Abstract

Background- Nasopharyngeal carcinoma arises from the nasopharynx epithelial lining and is caused by Epstein Barr virus. Latent Membrane Protein 1(LMP 1) expressed on cytoplasmic portion of cell surface of Epstein Barr virus is an oncoprotein which triggers multiple cell signalling pathways and facilitates the expression of virus infected cell population at an early stage of development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Aims and Objectives- To study the age,sex distribution, clinical presentation, histologic spectrum and expression of LMP1 in the histologic types of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The present study is a cross sectional study done over a Material And Methods- period of two years at a tertiary care hospital.Histologic typing of nasopharyngeal carcinoma done on light microscopy followed by expression of Latent Membrane Protein 1 by Immunohistochemistry. The present study showed a male predominance (75%), bimodal age Results- distribution in second and fth decades of life, presented most commonly as nasal obstruction (82.5%), non keratinising undifferentiated type being the commonest histologic type (80%) and LMP 1 expression in 45% of cases. The detection of Latent Membrane Protei Conclusion- n 1 by immunohistochemistry helps in early diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and may aid in treatment as a therapeutic target