Nasopharyngeal brushing: a convenient and feasible sampling method for nucleic acid-based nasopharyngeal carcinoma research

Cancer Communications

Xi-Zhao Li¹  Wei-Hua Jia²  Xiao-Hui Zheng²  Ye-Zhu Hu²  Pei-Fen Zhang²  Shao-Dan Zhang³  Tian Tian⁴ 

[1] Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, ÜTumor Resource Bank, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, P. R. China;mqi, P. R. China;rü

关键词: Nasopharyngeal brushing;    Tissue samples;    Nasopharyngeal carcinoma;    Nucleic acid;    Cancer research;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40880-018-0278-z

学科分类：肿瘤学

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Tissue specimens for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) research are scarce because of sampling difficulties. Previous studies have suggested non-invasive nasopharyngeal brushing as an effective sampling method for NPC diagnosis. The present study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of nasopharyngeal brushing in the acquisition of NPC nucleic acids for research. Nasopharyngeal brushing samples were acquired from 24 healthy individuals and 48 NPC patients. Tissues from 48 NPC and 18 nasopharyngitis patients were collected by endoscopic biopsy. The expression levels of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) and Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-encoded microRNAs as well as EBV DNA copy number were measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in both types of samples. Among six TSGs examined, the expression levels of two genes were significantly decreased in nasopharyngeal brushing and tissue samples from NPC patients as compared with those from healthy/nasopharyngitis individuals. Four EBV-encoded microRNAs, mir-bart1-5p, mir-bart5, mir-bart6-5p, and mir-bart17-5p, were significantly up-regulated in both NPC brushing and tissue samples compared with those from healthy/nasopharyngitis controls (P < 0.001). EBV DNA was significantly increased in both nasopharyngeal brushing samples (P < 0.001) and tissue samples (P < 0.001) from NPC patients in comparison with those from healthy controls. Nasopharyngeal brushing can obtain sufficient tumoral materials for the analysis of viral nucleic acid, including EBV-encoded microRNAs and EBV DNA. For the detection of TSG expression, nasopharyngeal brushings was feasible but inferior to tissue samples. This study confirms nasopharyngeal brushing as an applicable sampling method that can aid in nucleic acid-based NPC research.

【 授权许可】

CC BY