Ethnic link to nose cancer
A clinical trial in cell therapy will be starting based on the NUS multiethnic study on nasopharyngeal cancer
NUS physicians have found that nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC), which is prevalent in Chinese, also affects 15 per cent of the non-Chinese population in Singapore. Moreover, the latter tend to seek treatment only during the advanced stage of the disease, which could be a cause for concern.
Little knowledge and report exist about non-Chinese patients. The NUS study, a first involving multiple ethnicities, provides important understanding of such links to the disease. It could pave the way for developing targeted therapeutics against the cancer.
NPC affects the Chinese most frequently, and previous work has shown genetic and environmental links. The Epstein Barr Virus variant is especially associated with this ethnic group in the region. Hypotheses of causes include cultural dietary preference among southern Chinese such as preserved food that might contain carcinogens, as well as immune response in viral-associated cancers.
Researchers from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, led by Assistant Professor Lim Chwee Ming from the Department of Otolaryngology, retrospectively reviewed the charts of 558 NPC patients at the National University Hospital (NUH) from 2002 to 2012.
Although 85 per cent of the patients were Chinese, the number of non-Chinese subjects was still sizable, with Malays comprising about 70 per cent of this group. Many of the non-Chinese patients had advanced cancer when they first sought treatment; interestingly, there was no significant difference in the two groups' survival.
The findings, published in PLOS in May 2015, could enable scientists to use the Epstein Barr Virus for targeted treatment. Dr Lim revealed that several groups at the National University Cancer Institute are working in this area. A clinical trial in cell therapy, in collaboration with NUS Adjunct Associate Professor Goh Boon Cher, Head of Haematology and Oncology at the Institute, and NUS Paediatrics Professor Dario Campana, will commence soon at NUH.
NPC refers to tumour at the back of the throat behind the nose, thus it is commonly known as nose cancer. The cancer affects 9.5 in 100,000 people per year in Southeast Asia and East Asia, predominantly Chinese males. In contrast, less than one case is seen per 100,000 people for the rest of the world. It is the eighth most common cancer among Singaporean men, occurring between 35 and 55 years.
