The high incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer in the southern region is mainly related to three factors, so be careful to prevent

Many people confuse nasopharyngeal cancer with nasal cavity cancer and think that nasopharyngeal cancer is cancer that grows in the nose, which is wrong. The nasal cavity is the nasal cavity, and the nasopharynx is the nasopharynx, which are different parts. Although the nasopharynx has the word "nose", the main word is "pharynx", which means that it is still "pharynx". The pharynx has three parts, the nasopharynx, Oropharynx, laryngopharynx (pharynx). This is the first thing to figure out.

Nasopharyngeal cancer is not a very common cancer, but it is not uncommon. It can be regarded as a common tumor in head and neck malignant tumors. In general, it is a very common tumor in China, especially in some parts of China, such as in southern China. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, etc., as well as neighboring Hunan, Jiangxi, and Fujian are also relatively high. Many people ask, what is the cause of nasopharyngeal cancer?

The genetic factors

As mentioned earlier, since nasopharyngeal cancer is particularly high in some places, it is natural to think whether it is related to heredity? The incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer does have obvious regional differences, and there is a phenomenon of familial clustering. That is to say, for example, not everyone in Guangdong has a high incidence, but some families have a cluster of diseases, which suggests that it is related to genetic factors. The study does suggest that there is a correlation between the phenotype of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and the gene polymorphisms of GSTM1 and CYP2E1 can affect the susceptibility of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center The study found that HLA and other three genes TN-FRSF19, MDSI-EVI1 and CDKN2A/2B are susceptibility genes of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which can significantly affect the risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. To put it bluntly, people who carry these genes have a higher risk of nasopharyngeal cancer, and if this gene is passed on to the next generation, the next generation will of course have a higher risk of nasopharyngeal cancer. But it should be noted that this does not mean that nasopharyngeal cancer will be inherited directly. For example, if parents have nasopharyngeal cancer, their children will have nasopharyngeal cancer at birth, nor does it mean that they will definitely get nasopharyngeal cancer when they grow up, but only that there are more Higher susceptibility, higher risk of disease.

2. EB virus infection

The occurrence of many cancers is related to the infection of a certain virus, such as liver cancer and hepatitis virus, cervical cancer and HPV virus, and the occurrence of nasopharyngeal cancer is also closely related to an infection called EB virus. The occurrence of EBV virus plays an important role in the occurrence of EBV virus is a type 1 carcinogen in the cancer research agency under the World Health Organization. It is closely related to the occurrence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and some lymphomas. In the process of carcinogenesis, the carcinogenic effect of EBV appears relatively late.

Is there any evidence that EB virus is closely related to the incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer? Of course there is, research shows:

1. All nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells express EBV DNA or RAN;

2. Epstein-Barr virus-related antibodies such as VCA-IgA and EA-IgA can be detected in the serum of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Whether it is the positive rate of antibodies or the titer of antibodies, patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma are more obvious than normal and other tumor patients. and the antibody titer level is positively correlated with tumor burden, that is to say, the larger the tumor burden, the higher the antibody titer level of EBV;

3. EBV is in the form of clonal episomes, which means that EBV virus entered the tumor cells before clonal proliferation;

4. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma was positive for EBV in the aura region, but negative in normal nasopharyngeal epithelium.

All the above evidences strongly suggest that the incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma is closely related to EBV virus.

3. Environmental factors

Finally, we have to talk about environmental factors. The environmental factors mentioned here do not just refer to environmental pollution as everyone takes for granted, but refer to comprehensive factors including living and working environment, lifestyle and eating habits, etc. The incidence of most cancers and environmental factors Obviously related, even the so-called genetic susceptibility is often under the influence of environmental factors, such as inherent susceptibility, there is a higher risk, and if it is also exposed to carcinogenic environmental factors, it is more likely to become reality. Nasopharyngeal cancer is also related to environmental factors. As mentioned earlier, people in some places have a high incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer, and regional aggregation actually reflects that the same or similar geographical environment or similar living and eating habits may cause or promote nasopharyngeal cancer. The development of cancer, such as:

1. Preserved foods such as salted fish, cured meat, and pickled vegetables contain high levels of nitrite (carcinogenic chemicals). People in high-incidence areas of nasopharyngeal cancer often have eating habits of these foods.

2. Exposure to smoking, occupational smoke, dust, formaldehyde, etc. may also be related to the incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer. Having received radiation exposure, such as previous radiation therapy for other cancers (head and neck tumors), may also increase the risk of developing nasopharyngeal cancer in the future.