Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Indonesia: epidemiology, incidence, signs, and symptoms at presentation

Among all head and neck (H&N) cancers, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) represents a distinct entity regarding epidemiology, clinical presentation, biological markers, carcinogenic risk factors, and prognostic factors. NPC is endemic in certain regions of the world, especially in Southeast Asia, a...

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Main Authors: Adham, Marlinda, Kurniawan, Antonius N., Muhtadi, Arina Ika, Roezin, Averdi, Hermani, Bambang, Gondhowiardjo, Soehartati, Tan, I Bing, Middeldorp, Jaap M.
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center 2012
Online Access:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777476/
id pubmed-3777476
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spelling pubmed-37774762013-12-11 Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Indonesia: epidemiology, incidence, signs, and symptoms at presentation Adham, Marlinda Kurniawan, Antonius N. Muhtadi, Arina Ika Roezin, Averdi Hermani, Bambang Gondhowiardjo, Soehartati Tan, I Bing Middeldorp, Jaap M. Original Article Among all head and neck (H&N) cancers, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) represents a distinct entity regarding epidemiology, clinical presentation, biological markers, carcinogenic risk factors, and prognostic factors. NPC is endemic in certain regions of the world, especially in Southeast Asia, and has a poor prognosis. In Indonesia, the recorded mean prevalence is 6.2/100 000, with 13 000 yearly new NPC cases, but otherwise little is documented on NPC in Indonesia. Here, we report on a group of 1121 NPC patients diagnosed and treated at Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia between 1996 and 2005. We studied NPC incidence among all H&N cancer cases (n=6000) observed in that period, focusing on age and gender distribution, the ethnic background of patients, and the disease etiology. We also analyzed most prevalent signs and symptoms and staging of NPC patients at first presentation. In this study population, NPC was the most frequent H&N cancer (28.4%), with a male-to-female ratio of 2.4, and was endemic in the Javanese population. Interestingly, NPC appeared to affect patients at a relatively young age (20% juvenile cases) without a bimodal age distribution. Mostly, NPC initiated in the fossa of Rosenmuller and spreaded intracranially or locally as a mass in the head. Occasionally, NPC developed at the submucosal level spreading outside the anatomic limits of the nasopharynx. At presentation, NPC associated with hearing problems, serous otitis media, tinnitus, nasal obstruction, anosmia, bleeding, difficulty in swallowing and dysphonia, and even eye symptoms with diplopia and pain. The initial diagnosis is difficult to make because early signs and symptoms of NPC are not specific to the disease. Early-age Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection combined with frequent exposure to environmental carcinogenic co-factors is suggested to cause NPC development. Undifferentiated NPC is the most frequent histological type and is closely associated with EBV. Expression of the EBV-encoded latent membrane protein 1(LMP1) Oncogene in biopsy material was compared between NPC patients of < 30 years old and those of ≥ 30 years old, matched for sex and tumor stage. Higher LMP1 expression in patients of <30 years old was observed, which was related to more locoregional progressivity. Increased medical awareness of prevailing early stage signs and symptoms coupled to use of EBV-related diagnostic tumor markers may lead to down-staging and timely treatment to improve survival of patients with this aggressive disease. Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center 2012-04 /pmc/articles/PMC3777476/ /pubmed/22313595 http://dx.doi.org/10.5732/cjc.011.10328 Text en Chinese Journal of Cancer http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which allows readers to alter, transform, or build upon the article and then distribute the resulting work under the same or similar license to this one. The work must be attributed back to the original author and commercial use is not permitted without specific permission.
repository_type Open Access Journal
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building NCBI PubMed
collection Online Access
language English
format Online
author Adham, Marlinda
Kurniawan, Antonius N.
Muhtadi, Arina Ika
Roezin, Averdi
Hermani, Bambang
Gondhowiardjo, Soehartati
Tan, I Bing
Middeldorp, Jaap M.
spellingShingle Adham, Marlinda
Kurniawan, Antonius N.
Muhtadi, Arina Ika
Roezin, Averdi
Hermani, Bambang
Gondhowiardjo, Soehartati
Tan, I Bing
Middeldorp, Jaap M.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Indonesia: epidemiology, incidence, signs, and symptoms at presentation
author_facet Adham, Marlinda
Kurniawan, Antonius N.
Muhtadi, Arina Ika
Roezin, Averdi
Hermani, Bambang
Gondhowiardjo, Soehartati
Tan, I Bing
Middeldorp, Jaap M.
author_sort Adham, Marlinda
title Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Indonesia: epidemiology, incidence, signs, and symptoms at presentation
title_short Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Indonesia: epidemiology, incidence, signs, and symptoms at presentation
title_full Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Indonesia: epidemiology, incidence, signs, and symptoms at presentation
title_fullStr Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Indonesia: epidemiology, incidence, signs, and symptoms at presentation
title_full_unstemmed Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Indonesia: epidemiology, incidence, signs, and symptoms at presentation
title_sort nasopharyngeal carcinoma in indonesia: epidemiology, incidence, signs, and symptoms at presentation
description Among all head and neck (H&N) cancers, nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) represents a distinct entity regarding epidemiology, clinical presentation, biological markers, carcinogenic risk factors, and prognostic factors. NPC is endemic in certain regions of the world, especially in Southeast Asia, and has a poor prognosis. In Indonesia, the recorded mean prevalence is 6.2/100 000, with 13 000 yearly new NPC cases, but otherwise little is documented on NPC in Indonesia. Here, we report on a group of 1121 NPC patients diagnosed and treated at Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia between 1996 and 2005. We studied NPC incidence among all H&N cancer cases (n=6000) observed in that period, focusing on age and gender distribution, the ethnic background of patients, and the disease etiology. We also analyzed most prevalent signs and symptoms and staging of NPC patients at first presentation. In this study population, NPC was the most frequent H&N cancer (28.4%), with a male-to-female ratio of 2.4, and was endemic in the Javanese population. Interestingly, NPC appeared to affect patients at a relatively young age (20% juvenile cases) without a bimodal age distribution. Mostly, NPC initiated in the fossa of Rosenmuller and spreaded intracranially or locally as a mass in the head. Occasionally, NPC developed at the submucosal level spreading outside the anatomic limits of the nasopharynx. At presentation, NPC associated with hearing problems, serous otitis media, tinnitus, nasal obstruction, anosmia, bleeding, difficulty in swallowing and dysphonia, and even eye symptoms with diplopia and pain. The initial diagnosis is difficult to make because early signs and symptoms of NPC are not specific to the disease. Early-age Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection combined with frequent exposure to environmental carcinogenic co-factors is suggested to cause NPC development. Undifferentiated NPC is the most frequent histological type and is closely associated with EBV. Expression of the EBV-encoded latent membrane protein 1(LMP1) Oncogene in biopsy material was compared between NPC patients of < 30 years old and those of ≥ 30 years old, matched for sex and tumor stage. Higher LMP1 expression in patients of <30 years old was observed, which was related to more locoregional progressivity. Increased medical awareness of prevailing early stage signs and symptoms coupled to use of EBV-related diagnostic tumor markers may lead to down-staging and timely treatment to improve survival of patients with this aggressive disease.
publisher Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center
publishDate 2012
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777476/
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