Diagnostic value of lymph node EBV-DNA detection in cervical lymph node metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma / 国际肿瘤学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of lymph node fine-needle aspiration (FNA)Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-DNA concentration detection in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cervical lymph node metastasis.Methods From August to December 2016,36 cases of NPC and 9 cases of other tumors (not correlated with EBV infection) were enrolled in this study at the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center.All patients received magnetic resonance images (MRI),plasma and cervical lymph node FNA EBV-DNA detection.Results The median concentration of EBV-DNA in FNA fluid (1.39 × 105 copies/ml) in cervical lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than that in plasma (2.00 × 103 copies/ml),with a significant difference (x2 =16.723,P =0.004).The diagnosis sensitivity,specificity,accuracy of the lymph node FNA fluid of EBV-DNA were 86.2％ (25/29),71.4％ (10/14) and 81.4％ (35/43) respectively,which were better than those of MRI [72.4％ (21/29),50.0％ (7/14) and 65.1％ (28/43) respectively] and plasma EBV-DNA [55.2％ (16/29),71.4％ (10/14) and 60.5％ (26/43) respectively].The area under the curve (AUC) of level Ⅰ b cervical lymph node metastasis was calculated,and FNA fluid EBV-DNA (AUC =0.688)was better than MRI (AUC =0.583),with a significant difference (Z =2.476,P =0.008).The EBV-DNA concentration in FNA fluid in cervical lymph node metastasis of patients with other tumors (no correlated with EBV infection) was 0 copy/ml.Conclusion FNA fluid EBV-DNA may improve the diagnostic sensitivity of cervical lymph node metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma,and help to explore the clinical target volume neck nodes at level Ⅰ b cervical lymph node in radiotherapy.