Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) is most prevalent in Southern China and is one of the common cancers in Hong Kong. Early detection of NPC is difficult as most patients remain asymptomatic at the early stage of the disease. Liquid biopsy provides new avenues for early cancer detection with the potential for detection at an early stage, treatment modification, and surveillance of head and neck cancers.

Dr Lam’s research interests are on the biological features of plasma DNA and its potential clinical application in non-invasive cancer detection. He is involved in a large-scale prospective clinical study using plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA for screening of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Based on this study, he has further investigated the distinct molecular features of plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA in nasopharyngeal cancer. Such discoveries have led to the development of novel diagnostic assays for NPC screening and Dr Lam has filed multiple patent applications on related assays.

In this webinar, Dr Lam will illustrate the role of liquid biopsy in making early diagnosis of cancer using NPC as the model.