Raghupathy Radha, Hui Edwin Pun, Chan Anthony Tak Cheung
From the Partner State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sir Y K Pao Centre for Cancer, Department of Clinical Oncology, Hong Kong Cancer Institute and Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book. 2014:149-53. doi: 10.14694/EdBook_AM.2014.34.149.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) of the undifferentiated subtype remains endemic in southern China, with a peak incidence in this region approaching 30 cases per 100,000 population per year. Despite advances in chemotherapy and radiation delivery techniques in localized disease, distant metastasis is still common and NPC remains the seventh leading cause of cancer death in the region. There is great need for early diagnosis, developing novel therapies, and identifying patients with localized disease at higher risk of future recurrence or metastasis to appropriately tailor their treatment and improve outcomes. Knowledge of the integral involvement of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the pathogenesis of undifferentiated NPC has been of seminal importance in developing strategies to optimize disease management. The close association with EBV is being evaluated in multiple settings including screening of at-risk populations, disease prognostication, development of targeted therapies, optimizing adjuvant treatment, and early recurrence detection. These translational studies are likely to have an enormous effect on management of undifferentiated NPC and significantly improve the landscape of the disease in years to come.
未分化型鼻咽癌（NPC）在中国南方地区仍呈地方流行态势，该地区的发病率峰值接近每年每10万人中有30例。尽管局部疾病的化疗和放疗技术有所进步，但远处转移仍然常见，NPC仍是该地区癌症死亡的第七大主要原因。非常需要早期诊断、开发新疗法以及识别局部疾病患者中未来复发或转移风险较高的患者，以便适当调整其治疗方案并改善治疗效果。了解爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒（EBV）在未分化型NPC发病机制中的整体作用，对于制定优化疾病管理的策略具有至关重要的意义。EBV与疾病的密切关联正在多个领域进行评估，包括对高危人群的筛查、疾病预后评估、靶向治疗的开发、辅助治疗的优化以及早期复发检测。这些转化研究可能会对未分化型NPC的管理产生巨大影响，并在未来几年显著改善该疾病的治疗局面。
