Association of LMP1 expression and cancer stage of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients at Dr. Soetomo Regional General Hospital in January 2023 – December 2023

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is the most common multifactorial malignancy of the nasopharynx. Its prevalence rate is the fourth highest among other malignancies in Indonesia, at 1.2 cases per 100,000. The pathogenesis of NPC cases is closely linked to one of its risk factors, Epstein-Barr Virus, specifically the expression of one of its proteins, LMP1, which is found in almost all NPC patient tissue samples. The role of LMP1 (Latent membrane protein 1) has been proven to influence cancer stage that also linked to poor prognosis, overall survival, and metastasis. However, conflicting studies about significance of the relationship between LMP1 and NPC stage were also found. Therefore, this observational analytical quantitative study with a retrospective approach was conducted to clarify the controversy surrounding the relationship between LMP1 and NPC stage. A total of 40 patients met the inclusion criteria. There were 30 males and 10 were female. The dominant age ranged from 41 to 50 years old (32.5%). Thirty-three patients (82.5%) showed LMP1(+) expression, while seven patients (17.5%) were LMP1(-). Most of these NPC patients were in stage IV (75%). Although number of LMP1(+) patient expression was found in most of the patients and seemed increase in late stage of NPC, the correlation with NPC stage from chi-square test was deemed insignificant (p>0.05).