Abstract
To conduct a meta-analysis to investigate the value of EBV DNA in diagnosis of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) in Asian populations, and provide important evidence for screening. Prospective or respective case-control or cohort studies regarding the detection role of EBV DNA for NPC were included in our study. We conducted a comprehensive literature search in PubMed, EMBASE, and the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM database between January 1980 and March 2012. A total of 18 studies with 1492 NPC cases and 2641 health controls were included. Almost of the included studies were conducted in China, and only one other conducted in Thailand. The overall results demonstrated that the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood (+ LR) and negative likelihood (-LR) were 0.73 (0.71-0.75), 0.89 (0.88-0.90), 8.84 (5.65-13.84) and 0.19(0.11-0.32), respectively. The overall EBV DNA detection showed the largest area of 0.932 under the summary receiver operator curve (SROC). The accuracy of detection by plasma for NPC (0.86) was higher than in serum (0.81), with largest areas under the SROC of 0.97 and 0.91, respectively. Our results demonstrated the EBV DNA detection in plasma or serum has high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis of NPC, especially in Chinese populations with a high risk of cancer.
Highlights
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has been recognized for over 100 years, with the first published report of the disease in 1901
Prospective or respective case-control or cohort studies regarding the detection role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA for NPC were included in our study
Selection criteria Prospective or respective case-control or cohort studies regarding on the detection role of EBV DNA for NPC were included in our study
Summary
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has been recognized for over 100 years, with the first published report of the disease in 1901. In 2002, there were 80,000 new cases worldwide, accounting for 0.7% of all cancers and making it the 23rd most common new cancer in world (Parkin et al, 2005; Wei et al, 2010; Sharma et al, 2011). It was the seventh most common new malignancy in Hong Kong. The agestandardised incidence rate of nasopharyngeal carcinoma for both males and females is < 1 per 100,000 person-years in most regions. In terms of sex distribution, nasopharyngeal carcinoma is diagnosed more frequently in males than in females with an approximate ratio of 2 to 3:1 (Parkin et al, 2005)
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