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 e
arly stages despite growing awareness of this prevalent malignancy. The IgA
VCA titre was determined for 1880 of these patients. The median titre incr
eased 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 equ
al 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 neede
d for the early detection of NPC. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights
reserved.