Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA in plasma and serum as a tumour marker for EBV-associated malignancies

Y.M. Dennis L0

Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

Recently, much interest has been developed on the study of circulating DNA in the plasma of humans. These studies have led to the finding of circulating Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) DNA in the plasma of EBV-associated malignancies, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Burkitt's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease. Clinical data indicate that the detection of plasma/serum EBV DNA holds promise for the diagnosis and monitoring of these EBV-associated cancers. Many biological and clinical questions regarding circulating DNA remain unanswered and would be fruitful areas of research over the next few years.

Keywords: Epstein-Barr virus. Monitoring. Molecular diagnosis.

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