Plasma epstein-barr virus DNA concentration and clearance rate as novel prognostic factors for metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Background To investigate the pretreatment copy number and the clearance rate of plasma Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA as novel prognostic outcome markers for metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods Seventy-three patients with metastatic NPC were treated at outpatient department. Plasma EBV DNA concentrations and half-life values of plasma viral clearance rates, were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results Treatment response evaluated after 3 to 6 months of treatment showed that the overall response rate was 53.5%. The pretreatment plasma EBV DNA concentrations and the half-life of plasma EBV DNA clearance rates had significant effects on treatment response and overall survival prediction. In the chemotherapy regimen, gemcitabine plus cisplatin had a better treatment outcome than the cisplatin plus oral UFT and calcium folinatebased regimens. Conclusions The pretreatment plasma EBV DNA copy number and their clearance rates are significant predictors for NPC treatment outcome. (c) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2012