Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common health issue in southern China, including Hong Kong. Many patients diagnosed with advanced-stage NPC do not respond well to standard treatments such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Therefore, there is a significant need for new and effective therapies to improve the clinical management of this cancer. Given that NPC is an Epstein–Barr virus (EBV)-driven carcinoma, eliminating the EBV genome and/or viral transcripts from NPC cells warrants exploration as a new treatment strategy.
In this project, the research team developed a novel method using CRISPR/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) approach to target EBV in NPC cells. First, they showed that demonstrated proof of concept that CRISPR/Cas13-mediated targeting of essential EBV RNA components is an effective anti-EBV strategy with potential application in NPC therapy. Second, they characterised the adjuvant role of the CRISPR/Cas system alongside currently available chemotherapeutic agents, supporting a dual therapeutic approach for NPC. Third, they developed and optimised a protocol for delivering CRISPR agents to NPC cells.
This project established the feasibility of using a combined CRISPR/Cas9–CRISPR/Cas13 system to eliminate EBV from NPC cells. Importantly, this system could be extended to develop a universal EBV inhibitor for treating patients with EBV-associated diseases, including EBV-positive lymphoma and gastric carcinoma.