Pattern of EBNA-1, EBNA-2, LMP-1 AND LMP-2 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Vietnamese patients

Abstract

This study examined the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) based on the detection of candidate genes, including EBNA-1, EBNA-2, LMP-1 and LMP-2 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in Vietnamese population. Firstly, we systematically analyzed the mean of percentage weighted of the presence of candidate genes in previous relevant studies. Experimentally, 31 nasopharyngeal cancer biopsies and 10 healthy samples were enrolled in current to evaluate the frequency of candidate genes, as the results, the frequency of EBNA-1, EBNA-2, LMP-1 and LMP-2 were 77.42, 70.97, 64.52 and 70.97% respectively. Whereas, none of any cases of healthy samples were found to be positive to target genes. The p value <0.05 showed that there was a significant correlation between the presence of those candidate genes and nasopharyngeal cancer. Moreover, high odds ratio (OR) and relative risk (RR) of each candidate genes, (EBNA-1: OR = 68.16, RR = 2.41; EBNA-2, OR = 49.74, RR = 2.11; LMP-1: OR = 37.43, RR = 1.91; LMP-2: OR = 45.32, RR = 2.11) were calculated. Additionally, in the total of four genes combination detected, frequency of detection at least one genes (PCR index—PI ≥0.25), counting for 83.87%, was higher than individual gene and pairwise combination detection. These results also indicated that, the combination of detection of EBNA-1, EBNA-2, LMP-1 and LMP-2, which performed by PCR, could serve as a good supplement to early diagnosis and prognosis of NPC in Vietnamese population.