An unprecedented community outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) occurred in the Amoy Gardens, a high-rise residential complex in Hong Kong. Droplet, air, contaminated fomites, and rodent pests have been proposed to be mechanisms for transmitting SARS in a short period. We studied nasopharyngeal viral load of SARS patients on admission and their geographic distribution. Higher na...

To screen the nucleic acid aptamers of the EB virus-positive nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, we used SELEX technology and synthesized in vitro a 78-nucleotide random DNA library. We used normal nasopharyngeal epithelial cells and EB virus-positive low differentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells as target to conduct 10 cycles of screening, cloning, sequencing, and identification of the aptamer...

A 49-year-old man attended our department complaining of progressive difficulty in swallowing over a period of 2 weeks. He reported no other discomfort. His medical history revealed that he had been diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (cT3N3bM0; WHO Type III) in September 2008 and had undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy concurrently. A complete response was achieved initially, but regio...

Aims-To investigate the immunohistochemical expression of MDM-2 protein in comparison with that of p53 protein in nasopharyngeal carcinomas.Methods-Formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded tissue from 59 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was stained by immunohistochemistry for MDM-2 and p53 proteins.Results-The tumours were divided histologically into seven cases of keratinising nasopharyngeal car...

A nasopharyngeal (Tornwaldt's) cyst is uncommon. It is often asymptomotic; however it may cause problem if it too big becomes. We present a case of a 24-year-old Malay girl who had been a habitual snorer for years but was unaware of the significance of her problem. Opportunities for an earlier referral and assessment were missed since we were not aware of her history despite previous related bu...

Exosomes are nanosized (30-100nm) membrane microvesicles secreted through a complex cellular process. Exosomes contain a variety of bioactive molecules, such as proteins, microRNAs(miRNAs or miRs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), playing an important role in the cell-to-cell substance transportation and signal transduction. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma-related exosomes (NPC-Exo) have been identi...

We review the literature on nasopharyngeal carcinoma that has been published within the past 5 years. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a highly morbid disease, and survival is poor. Its management remains extremely difficult, not just for otolaryngologists but for radiation oncologists and medical oncologists, as well. A clear understanding of its etiology is still lacking, but nasopharyngeal carcin...

RATIONALE Nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae is a prerequisite for invasive disease, but the majority of carriage episodes are asymptomatic and self-resolving. Interactions determining the development of carriage versus invasive disease are poorly understood but will influence the effectiveness of vaccines or therapeutics that disrupt nasal colonization. OBJECTIVES We sought ...

Serological detection of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibodies is frequently used in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) mass screening. However, the large number of seropositive subjects who require close follow-up is still a big burden. The present study aimed to detect the nasopharyngeal EBV load in a high-risk population seropositive for antibodies against EBV, as well as to examine whether assay ...