Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: 11-Year Retrospective Study and Moleculer Characterization of Ebna1 Gene of EBV LMP1 Detected In Tissue Samples Obtained In National Ear Care Centre, Kaduna (2013-2023)

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a rare tumor of the head and neck which originates in the epithelial cells that are squamous in nature [Nyall et al., 2024] and NPC is the most common malignant tumor of the nasopharynx located at the postero-lateral recess referred to as the Fossa of Rosen Müller. This study aims to retrospectively study the prevalence of NPC patients using the histopathology unit register to collate their demographic studies over 11-year period (2013-2023), A total of 42 patients were diagnosed with NPC out of 228 cancer cases recorded in NECC and of the 42 patients diagnosed, thirteen,13 (31%) had UDNPC, seven,7 (17%) reported to have NKNPC making up 17% of the total, seventeen,17 had DNPC which is the highest occurring surmounting to 40%, with only 3 (7%) were unclassified with NPC recorded as their findings making up 7%, KNPC had only two,2 (5%) patients recorded, overall there is a male preponderance over the female patients reported in this study. LMP1 was detected in 29 patients with prevalent NPC diagnosed and subsequent molecular characterization of EBNA1 gene of the Epstein Barr Virus was carried out using a good representative of the samples amplification and DTCS sequencing. This showed resemblance to MT648647.1:96337-96506 Human gamma herpesvirus 4 isolate Necker-6, partial genome and GU475442.1:117-286 Human herpesvirus 4 isolate T5-biopsy_V-leu-vii EBNA-1 protein gene, partial cds with 160/171 identity. In conclusion, the overall prevalence of NPC cases among patients attending NECC Kaduna have been stipulated. Ad infinitum, the histopathological features of NPC cases, providing detailed insights into the disease morphology, presentation and molecular analyses of the EBNA1 gene in NPC patients, identifying specific viral genetic markers associated with the disease were all achieved. Keywords: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Epstein Barr Virus, Latent membrane protein 1, Epstein Barr Virus Nuclear Antigen 1, Epithelial linings.