Increased transcriptional expression of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) BamHI-A Rightward Transcripts: RPMS, BARF0 and A73 in EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients

Background: In Vietnam, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is the most common cancer of head and neck cancers, with a high rate of cancer deaths. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection has been reported to be an etiological factor of NPC. The transcripts from the Bam A rightward transcripts ( Bam HI-A) region, including BARF0 , RPMS1 and A73 , which mapped to EBV genome, have been indicated to play a pivotal role in EBV biological stage. However, the profile of target genes in Vietnamese NPC patients has not been investigated. Purpose: The aims of current study were to evaluate the expression and assess whether or not BARF0 , RPMS1 and A73 transcripts associated to Vietnamese NPC. Materials and methods: Total of RNA was isolated from 30 NPC biopsy and 30 noncancerous swab samples were analyzed by RT-qPCR. The 2 -ΔΔCt method was applied to evaluate the relative expression of each target gene by q-PCR. Results: The higher frequency of BARF0 , RPMS1 and A73 detection were 66.67%, 90.00%, and 70.00%, respectively, in NPC samples ( p < 0.05 ). Additionally, the BARF0 , RPMS1 and A73 transcripts were overexpressed by 9.58, 10.22 and 20.58 times in NPC samples compared to noncancerous samples. Additionally, the highest OR and RR values were 29.00 (95% CI = 3.49 – 241.14), and 2.75 (95% CI = 1.79 – 4.23), respectively, observed in the case of combination of detected three genes compared to individual genes. Conclusion: Taking together, it could be concluded that BARF0 , RPMS1 and A73 transcripts were upregulated in NPC, and maybe further serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers for NPC in local population.