Is nasopharyngeal cancer definitely hereditary?

Is nasopharyngeal cancer definitely hereditary? The answer is yes. In fact, a large proportion of nasopharyngeal cancer patients are caused by genetic factors. Below, let the experts introduce the causes of nasopharyngeal cancer to everyone, hoping to help everyone learn more about the causes of nasopharyngeal cancer.

1. Genetic factors: The incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma has obvious regional characteristics, and has obvious racial and familial clustering. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is more common in the yellow race, and it is rare for white people to suffer from this disease. Families with a high incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, such as those who have moved overseas, often have obvious family histories of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. These phenomena indicate that genetic background plays a certain role in the occurrence of this disease.

2. Virus factors: More than 90% of people in my country have been infected with Epstein-Barr virus when they were young. Epstein-Barr virus infection is very common. The occurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma is obviously regional, so Epstein-Barr virus infection cannot be considered the cause of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. However, a large number of studies have found that Epstein-Barr virus and nasopharyngeal carcinoma are closely related.

⑴ The serum of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients was tested for immunoglobulin A (VCA/IgA) against Epstein-Barr virus capsid antigen by immunoenzymatic method, and the antibody positive rate was found to be 90.9%, while the antibody positive rate of other tumors, including head and neck cancer, was only 3.5%, and the antibody positive rate of normal people was 0.6%. At the same time, the antibody titer of VCA/IgA can gradually decrease with the recovery of the disease. On the contrary, when the disease relapses or worsens, the antibody titer increases significantly. In addition, regardless of whether the nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients are in high-incidence or low-incidence areas, their Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen (EBNA) is 100% positive, while other head and neck cancers are all negative.

⑵ Amplification detection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology confirmed the presence of EB virus fragments (DNA and BamHIW fragments) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, while this fragment did not exist in normal nasopharyngeal tissues.

⑶ In vitro, after the nasopharyngeal epithelial cells were infected with cell lines containing EB virus, the infected epithelium grew faster and nuclear division phases were more common. In nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissue, EB virus is not only in a latent state, but also has virus replication.

The above is an introduction to the genetic factors of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. If someone in your family history has nasopharyngeal carcinoma, then you should pay attention. Take precautions in advance and seek medical treatment in time if problems arise. Believe that the disease will stay away from you.