Method of Detecting Malignancy of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma and A Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Malignancy Biomarker

Abstract

A method of detecting malignancy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and a nasopharyngeal carcinoma malignancy biomarker are disclosed. Firstly, a specimen is obtained from a testee. Next, the specimen is tested for its MIP-3α expression level. Then, the MIP-3α expression level of the specimen is compared with that of a control. Finally, the malignancy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma is determined according to a relative MIP-3α expression level between the specimen and the control.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application is a Divisional of co-pending application Ser. No. 12 / 610,008, filed on Oct. 30, 2009, and for which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. §120, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to a technology for testing nasopharyngeal carcinoma malignancy, and in particular to a macrophage inflammatory protein 3α (MIP-3α) biomarker for detecting the malignancy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and a method thereof.DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART[0003]Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a major head and neck cancer in Taiwan with a reported prevalence of 7-8 / 100,000 persons. The mean age of NPC patients is around 45 years old and the male to female ratio is approximately 2-3 to 1 [1,2]. Because NPC is an epithelial malignancy originating in the fossa of Rosenmuller and deep centrally inside the human skull, the symptoms and signs of NPC are usually insidious ...

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Benefits of technology

[0012]In the following, the present invention is described in detail in cooperation with the attached drawings to facilitate easily understanding the objective, characteristics and accomplishments of the present invention.

Problems solved by technology

Although NPC is a radiosensitive tumor, radiotherapy still fail in a high percentage of NPC patients locoregionally.

Despite the improving outcome of concurrent chemoradiotherapy administration, some patients still unfortunately fail to respond locally in the nasopharynx.

Recurrent NPC is a disease with a poor prognosis as re-irradiation has poor response rates and causes many severe complications [9,10].

The EBV-specific viral capsid antigen (VCA), IgA, shows good sensitivity but has a high false-positive rate for primary screening, and poor specificity for discriminating NPC from other EBV-associated diseases in endemic areas [15, 16].

However, because quantitative analysis of plasma / serum EBV DNA requires elaborate procedures and specialized equipment, this screening method is usually inaccessible to general practitioners in endemic areas and is therefore mostly used for post-treatment monitoring.

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, most NPC patients in endemic areas present with advanced stages at diagnosis, owing to the insidious clinical course of NPC and the relatively inaccessible anatomical site of the nasopharynx.

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