[Nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Brush biopsy with EBV-PCR is suitable as a screening test]

The nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is closely associated with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Because each tumor cell in a patient regardless of histological subtype contains an identical copy of the viral clone, the virus is easily detectable at early pre-invasive lesions. Nevertheless, the nasopharyngeal carcinoma is still usually diagnosed late, often not until they exhibit infested lymph nodes and / or distant metastases have occurred. Canadian scientists have now discovered and analyzed a new screening method.