Study of circulating biomarkers in nasopharyngeal cancer

To date there is no reliable biomarker validated in the exploration of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). To assess the value of 2 markers: Cyfra 21-1 a fragment of cytokeratin 19 and ?2Microglobulin a cell membrane protein in CNP in southern Tunisia we included 103 individuals: 50 patients with a primary diagnosis of CNP and 53 healthy controls. CNP patients were classified according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC 2010) and the 8th edition TNM (UICC 2017). 40/50 (80%) of CNP patients were positive for at least one of the two markers. The mean serum level of Cyfra 21-1 was significantly higher in patients than in controls. None of the controls had an elevated level of this marker. The sensitivity of Cyfra 21-1 in CNP (66%) reached 100% for patients