Abstract: Objective  To explore the diagnostic value of the combined detection of serum Dickkopf-1（DKK1） and EB viral capsid antigen immunoglobulin A (VCA-IgA) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods Serum levels of DKK1 and VCA-IgA were measured by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the 80 patients with NPC and 65 normal controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to calculate the diagnostic value. Results The serum levels ［M(Q_R)］ of DKK1 in patients with NPC were significantly higher than those in normal controls ［580.773(429.146)pg/ml vs. 316.174(252.965)pg/ml］, with a significant difference (Z=4.846, P＜0.000 1). ROC curves showed that the optimum diagnostic cutoff for serum DKK1 was 611.981 pg/ml, with an area under curve (AUC) of 0.734 (95%CI: 0.654-0.815, 50.0% sensitivity, 96.9% specificity). Measurement of VCA-IgA demonstrated an AUC of 0.714 (95%CI: 0.631-0.798, 47.5% sensitivity, 95.4% specificity). The combined detection of DKK1 and VCA-IgA demonstrated an AUC of 0.849 (95%CI: 0.783-0.914, 76.3% sensitivity, 95.4% specificity). For patients with early-stage NPC, the detection effect of combined detection of DKK1 and VCA-IgA was much better than that in normal controls, with a significant difference (χ²=23.784, P＜0.001). Conclusion Serum DKK1 has potential diagnostic value for NPC. Combined detection of DKK1 and VCA-IgA may aid the early diagnosis of NPC.

Key words: Nasopharyngeal neoplasms, Diagnosis, Dickkopf-1, EB viral capsid antigen immunoglo-bulin A