Long-Term Outcomes of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma by Epstein-Barr Virus Status in the Chinese Population: A Multicenter Investigation

Yudi Xiong; Mengting Yuan; Zhigang Liu; Jing Huang; Jianping Bi; Guoliang Pi; Ying Li; Yanping Li; Hanping He; Vivek Verma; Suqing Tian; Guang Han

doi:10.3390/jcm12083005

Long-Term Outcomes of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma by Epstein-Barr Virus Status in the Chinese Population: A Multicenter Investigation

J Clin Med. 2023 Apr 20;12(8):3005. doi: 10.3390/jcm12083005.

Authors

Yudi Xiong¹, Mengting Yuan¹, Zhigang Liu², Jing Huang³, Jianping Bi¹, Guoliang Pi¹, Ying Li¹, Yanping Li¹, Hanping He¹, Vivek Verma⁴, Suqing Tian⁵, Guang Han¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430060, China.
² Department of Oncology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519000, China.
³ Cancer Center, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
⁴ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
⁵ Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking University Third Hospital, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.

Abstract

Background: Because the vast majority of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in Chinese patients is a direct result of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, there is a dearth of data for EBV-negative patients in this population. This multicenter study sought to examine the clinical characteristics of EBV-negative patients and compare long-term outcomes with a propensity-matched (1:1.5) EBV-positive cohort. Methods: NPC patients with known EBV status from four hospitals were collated (2013-2021). A logistic regression model was conducted to evaluate the relationship between patient characteristics and EBV status. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis were used to analyze survival data. Results: This study analyzed 48 (40%) EBV-negative and 72 (60%) EBV-positive patients. The median follow-up time was 63.5 months. Most EBV-negative NPC patients (77.1%) were diagnosed in advanced stages with a higher rate (87.5%) of positive lymph node disease, and no significant prognostic factors were discerned in this subpopulation. The EBV-negative disease was more associated with the keratinizing subtype (18.8% vs. 1.4%, p < 0.05). Compared to EBV-negative NPC patients, EBV-positive NPC patients were more likely to develop a local recurrence (9.7% vs. 0%, p = 0.026). There was no statistical difference in mortality (EBV-negative vs. EBV- positive, 8.3% vs. 4.2%, p = 0.34) during the follow-up period. Although the median PFS and median OS were not reached, the 3-year PFS rate was 68.8% vs. 70.8% (EBV-negative vs. EBV-positive, p = 0.06), the 3-year OS rate was 70.8% vs. 76.4% (EBV-negative vs. EBV-positive, p = 0.464), the 5-year PFS rate was 56.3% vs. 50% (EBV-negative vs. EBV-positive, p = 0.451), and the 5-year OS rate was 56.3% vs. 58.3% (EBV-negative vs. EBV-positive, p = 0.051), respectively. These data show that EBV-positive NPC patients seem to have a tendency to gain better survival compared with EBV-negative NPC patients. Conclusions: Most of the EBV-negative patients were in the middle and late stages at the time of diagnosis and were more associated with the keratinizing subtype. EBV status may be associated with prognosis in NPC. EBV positivity seems to be associated with better survival in NPC patients. Still, due to the small cohort of patients and the short observation period for a number of patients, further work is required to corroborate these conclusions.

Keywords: Epstein–Barr virus (EBV); nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC); prognosis.

Abstract

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