Clinical and survival analysis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with consistently negative Epstein–Barr virus DNA

Abstract

Background To assess the clinical and survival features of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with consistently negative Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) DNA level. Methods Propensity score matching (PSM) method was used to create well‐balanced cohorts. Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazards models were performed to conduct survival analysis. Results Four hundred and eighty patients were enrolled. Patients with consistently negative plasma EBV DNA level had a greater chance to present a relatively earlier T and N classification compared with those with positive EBV DNA level (p < .001; p = .015). And patients with consistently negative EBV level were significantly associated with preferable 3‐year DFS (95.0% vs. 84.4%, p = .004), DMFS (98.3% vs. 89.4%, p = .009), and OS (100% vs. 97.6%, p = .004). Conclusions NPC patients with consistently negative EBV DNA level performed an earlier clinical stage and negative EBV DNA level was related to preferable survival outcomes.

Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Connecting Antemortem and Postmortem Findings to Highlight a Rare Case of EBV and HPV Negativity

“…One recent study investigated the clinical and survival features of those with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and consistently negative EBV DNA levels, concluding that these patients had earlier clinical stages and preferable survival outcomes. However, these patients were examined in endemic China and conducted as a retrospective assessment at one institution [ 17 ]. Additional studies have and continue to investigate the prognostic implications of plasma or serum EBV DNA concentrations as measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [ 18 ].…”

Association between Statin Use and Survival in Cancer Patients with Brain Metastasis: Retrospective Analysis from the Chinese Population

“…Drug repurposing has recently been regarded as a feasible way to overcome this challenge. Notably, compelling evidence has proven the protective role of statin use in the prevention of different site-specific cancers [14][15][16][17]. However, whether statin use could reduce cancer mortality in advanced-stage patients has rarely been explored, and the results are debatable.…”

The Promise of Circulating Tumor DNA in Head and Neck Cancer

“…In addition to being positively correlated to clinical staging, EBV ctDNA load has also been extensively studied as an independent factor in monitoring treatment response [ 63 , 69 , 70 , 71 ]. To et al determined that the median half-life of EBV DNA during surgical resection was 139 min, proving that EBV ctDNA is derived from the NPC tumor body [ 72 ].…”

“…EBV ctDNA levels are negatively correlated with survival outcome measures. Detectable pre-treatment plasma EBV ctDNA was found to be associated with poorer survival outcomes when compared to undetectable cases [ 63 , 67 , 70 , 75 ]. This trend has also been demonstrated in non-endemic investigations [ 62 , 76 ].…”