Risk factors of nasopharyngeal cancer: A case control study in Udon Thani

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the common cancers in Asian population but is rare in Western countries. In Thailand, the incidence of NPC in 1999 was 2.8/100,000 among males and 1.4/ 100,000 among females. The objective of the study was to investigate the importance of environmental factors, as well as viral infection. This case-control study was conducted at Udonthani Regional Cancer Centre during October 2007- October 2009. Ninety seven patients with histopathologically confirmed NPC and 127 controls were included in the study. Information was collected by interviewer about demographic variables, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, eating habits, past history of disease, family history of cancer and a lifetime history of every job that was held for one year or longer. The participants were also asked to donate a blood sample for virology and genetic study. The result indicated that smoking and alcohol consumption were associated with an increase risk of NPC (OR=1.40, 95%CI 0.97-3.53 and OR=2.60, 95%CI 1.25-5.56, respectively), while salted fish and fermented consumption were not associated with NPC. Past history of sinusitis was also associated with an increase risk of NPC (OR=18.5, 95%CI 2.50-148.87). Our results suggest a strong effect of EBV infection on NPC risk (OR=39.3, 95%CI 16.64-91.23). In summary, our results suggest that many risk factors such as EBV infection, smoking, alcohol consumption or sinusitis may play an important role in NPC pathogenesis.