Staging and IgA VCA titre in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma: changes over a 12-year period

The distributions of 2093 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), by stage, over a 12-year-period did not show any evidence of a shift towards early stages despite growing awareness of this prevalent malignancy. The IgA VCA titre was determined for 1880 of these patients. The median titre increased from 40 in stage I to 80 in stages II, III, and IV, before rising to 160 in stage V. The percentage of patients with a titre greater than or equal to 320 increased steadily with advancing stages. Within the same disease stage, the percentage of patients having a particular titre value and the median titre varied considerably from pear to year. Better education of the general population and a better serological marker for screening are needed for the early detection of NPC. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.