Table 1. Baseline and clinical characteristics of NPC cases and healthy controls.
| Cases (n=70) | Control (n=70) | |
|---|---|---|
| General history | ||
| Age in year (⩽30/31–50/>50) | 7/38/25 | 5/42/23 |
| Gender (male/female) | 46/24 | 49/21 |
| Marital status (married/unmarried/widow) | 48/18/4 | 42/28/0 |
| Geographical region/ethnicity | North-east India/Asian | North-east India/Asian |
| Specific clinical symptoms | ||
| Ear | ||
| Ache | 28 | Nil |
| Deafness | 23 | Nil |
| Infection | 12 | Nil |
| Tinnitus | 12 | Nil |
| Eye | ||
| Diplopia | 14 | Nil |
| Loss of vision | 6 | Nil |
| Protrusion of eye ball | 2 | Nil |
| Neck | 27 | Nil |
| Swelling | ||
| Nasal | ||
| Obstruction | 21 | Nil |
| Bleeding | 20 | Nil |
| Congestion | 16 | Nil |
| Clinical examination | ||
| Histopathologya (keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma/non-keratinizing differentiated carcinoma/undifferentiated carcinoma) | 39/13/18 | NE |
| TNM stagingb | ||
| stage 0: Tis, N0, M0 | 0 | NE |
| stage I: T1, N0, M0 | 4 | NE |
| stage II: T2, N0, M0 (or T1 /T2, N1, M0) | 27 | NE |
| stage III: T3, N0 to N2, M0 (or T1 /T2, N2, M0) | 16 | NE |
| stage IVA: T4, N0, N1/ N2, M0 | 21 | NE |
| stage IVB: any T, N3, M0 | 2 | NE |
| stage IVC: any T, any N, M1 | 0 | NE |
Abbreviations: M, metastasis; N, lymphnode; NE, not examined; T, tumor. Data are number of participants unless otherwise specified. The subjects are marked. A total of 70 NPC patients were enrolled from seven medical centers spread across the states of north-east India: (i) Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, Assam; (ii) Cachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Silchar, Assam; (iii) Civil Hospital, Aizawl, Mizoram; (iv) Civil Hospital, Dimapur, Nagaland; (v) Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, Manipur; (vi) Arunachal State Hospital, Arunachal Pradesh; and (vii) Guwahati Medical College & Hospital, Guwahati, Assam. Controls and patient samples were characterized by considering their general history, geographical region, ethnicity and body symptoms. Clinical examinations of all patient samples based on World Health Organization (WHO) and AJCC classification were performed to determine the different stages of NPC. TNM, tumor, node and metastasis.
According to the WHO histopathological grading system
.
According to AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) classification to determine different stages of NPC.