Hong Kong ethnic Chinese are eligible to apply for free screening for nasopharyngeal cancer - which attacks an area at the back of the nose towards the base of the skull - in an 18-month Chinese University study.
University researchers said yesterday they were looking for 1,000 ethnic Chinese people aged 40 to 60, who were not on immunosuppressant medication - and had no record of cancer or immunological disorders - to take part in the testing.
Volunteers are advised not to conceive during the study.
Allen Chan Kwan-chee, assistant professor in the chemical pathology department of the university, said the study, which would target people who had no symptoms, can provide information about the characteristics of early-stage nasopharyngeal cancer.
Dubbed by some as 'Cantonese cancer', the disease is more prevalent in southern China than in other parts of the world.
Although little is known about its cause, it is believed that a combination of factors, such as genetics or diets with a heavy salt intake, can trigger the disease.
In recent years it has also been found that determining the concentration of a herpes virus, called Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), is an effective means of diagnosis, with a 95 per cent accuracy.
