Specific combinations of human and viral genetic variants explain a cancer predisposition in southern China: Nature

Mij

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
News and Views: April 22. 2026

The interplay between variants of human immune-system genes and strains of Epstein–Barr virus underpins differences in susceptibility to an uncommon throat cancer.

he revolution of genome-wide scans has led to the discovery of numerous robust associations between human genetic variants and disease outcomes, susceptibility and resistance. Many of these associations map to a region of the genome containing HLA genes, which encode a system of proteins that are essential for mounting adaptive immune responses. There is a long-recognized association between HLA genes and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a head and neck cancer that is most prevalent in southern China. Go some way to delineating the basis for this association, representing a valuable step towards revealing the specific mechanisms that underpin how NPC arises.

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