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Albumin, Globulin, and Albumin-Globulin Ratio with EBV DNA as Potential Markers for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Experience from a Regional Cancer Centre in North-Eastern India

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Healthcare Research and Related Technologies (NERC 2022)

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Abstract

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common head and neck malignancy in the north-eastern region of India. Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection coupled with inflammation and nutritional status has a significant effect on NPC diagnosis. Recent studies have cited albumin, globulin levels and albumin/globulin ratio as predictive factors in various cancer types. We evaluate the potential value of EBV DNA, serum albumin, globulin, and AGR and their correlation to NPC diagnosis in this region. EBV load was assessed by quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay in 105 biopsy-proven NPC patients and 115 matched healthy participants. Further serum profiles were measured by Capillary Electrophoresis and the AGR value was determined. The effectiveness of EBV-DNA, serum albumin, globulin, and AGR was examined, and its diagnostic performance was calculated. Our results demonstrated higher EBV DNA copies tend to be associated with the risk of NPC. EBV DNA load was found higher in advanced-stage than those in early-stage patients (p < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve shows EBV DNA levels with a sensitivity of 81.4% and specificity of 91.43% with cut-off values of 3893 copies/ml for distinguishing NPC patients from healthy donors. In addition, low serum albumin and low AGR with high globulin levels were also significantly correlated with NPC with optimal cut-off values of ≤4.06 g/dL, ≤1, and >3.59 g/dL respectively. In summary, the combination of AGR with albumin and globulin and EBV load were associated with the development of NPC and can serve as promising biomarkers in the clinical management of NPC.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Director, RIMS, Imphal, and Dept of Biotechnology, Manipur University Imphal for supporting the conduct of this study, while the first author acknowledges RIMS, Imphal, India for financial assistance through DBT Grant. Govt. of India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, India

    Deepak Singh Lourembam

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, India

    T. Dhaneshor Sharma

  3. Department of Biotechnology, Manipur University, Canchipur, Imphal, India

    Lisam Shanjukumar Singh

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  1. Deepak Singh Lourembam
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  2. T. Dhaneshor Sharma
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  3. Lisam Shanjukumar Singh
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Correspondence to Deepak Singh Lourembam .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Lalit M. Pandey

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Raghvendra Gupta

  3. Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Rajkumar P. Thummer

  4. Jyoti and Bhupat Mehta School of Health Sciences and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, India

    Rajiv Kumar Kar

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Ethics Statement

The study was approved [No: AC/112/EC/RIMS/2005/1481 dated 10th October 2011] by the Institutional Review Board (IRB), Regional Institute of Medical Sciences.

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All the authors declared no conflict of interest.

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Lourembam, D.S., Sharma, T.D., Singh, L.S. (2023). Albumin, Globulin, and Albumin-Globulin Ratio with EBV DNA as Potential Markers for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Experience from a Regional Cancer Centre in North-Eastern India. In: Pandey, L.M., Gupta, R., Thummer, R.P., Kar, R.K. (eds) Healthcare Research and Related Technologies. NERC 2022. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4056-1_14

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