Circadian Variations of Blood Pressure and Pulse Rate under Ordinary Daily Life by Ambulatory Monitoring

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is the most common head and neck cancers in Thailand.Although several genetic changes related to NPC have been identified, radiation or chemoradiationstill plays an important role in the treatment. The recent development of new anti-cancer agentsdirected at specific signaling pathways has prompted the researchers to examine the expression ofEGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) and C-KIT (CD117) in Thai patients with NPC. Immunohistochemicalmethod was used to evaluate expression of the proteins in 55 NPC samples retrievedfrom pathology files at the Institute of Pathology, Department of Medical Services and the Departmentof Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University during 2003-2004. Fifty-two(95%) and twelve (22%) cases were immunoreactive with EGFR and C-KIT, respectively. No correlationwas found between expressions of the two markers. NPC patients with positive specificsignaling protein(s) may be eligible for the new anti-cancer treatments, but further studies are neededto determine the actual benefit of such medications.Key words: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, EGFR, C-KIT