Association between high HBV-DNA viral load and liver metastasis risk in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

• A high HBV-DNA viral load increased the risk of liver metastasis in patients with NPC. Active HBV replication may impair hepatic immune surveillance, promoting metastatic spread. • Clinical vigilance and antiviral therapy are recommended for NPC patients with high HBV-DNA loads to mitigate liver metastasis risk. A total of 976 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) confirmed by pathology in Xiangya Cancer Hospital of Central South University from May 2017 to December 2022 were recruited for the study. Meanwhile, the HBV-DNA was detected to explore the relationship between HBV-DNA and liver metastasis of NPC. The results indicated that there was no significant difference in the liver metastasis rate between the HBV-negative group and the HBV-positive group. The liver metastasis rate in the low HBV-DNA viral load group was lower than that in the high HBV-DNA viral load group ( p =0.049). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that high HBV-DNA viral load was a risk factor for liver metastasis in HBV-positive NPC patients (OR=2.661, 95%CI 1.32-4.39, p =0.044). The HBV infection status itself had no significant association with whether NPC had liver metastasis. However, a high HBV-DNA viral load increased the risk of liver metastasis in patients with NPC.