Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is associated with Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection. However different viral strains have been implicated in NPC worldwide. This study aimed to detect and characterize EBV in patients diagnosed with NPC in Ghana. A total of 55 patients diagnosed with NPC by CT scan and endoscopy were age-matched with 53 controls without a known oncological disease. Venous blood was collected from the study participants and DNA extracted from the blood samples. Detection of EBV and genotyping were done by amplifying Epstein Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA-1) and Epstein Barr nuclear antigen 2 (EBNA-2), respectively, using specific primers. Viral load in patients and controls was determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction. EBV positivity in controls (92%) was significantly greater than that of NPC patients (67%) (χ2 = 19.17, p < 0.0001), and viral infection was independent of gender (χ2 = 1.770, p = 0.1834). The predominant EBV genotypes in patients and controls were genotype 2 (52%) and genotype 1 (62%), respectively. Median EBV load was significantly higher in NPC patients than the control group (p < 0.01). In summary, prevalence of EBV genotype 2 infection was higher in NPC patients than the control group. Assessment of EBV load may be used as a biomarker for the diagnosis of NPC.
Keywords: Epstein Barr virus; Ghana; genotypes; nasopharyngeal cancer; viral load.