Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) EBNA-2 type A (PCR-A) along with dot blot hybridization using EBV DNA Bam-W and EBNA-2 type A and B fragment as the probes (DBH-W, -A, and -B) was performed in the nasopharyngeal biopsies. The positive rates of PCR-A, DBH-W, -A and -B were 83.9%, 80.6%, 74.2% and 0.0% in 31 cases of nasopharyngeal, respectively, and 12.0%, 40.0%, 92.0% and 0.0% in 25 cases of chronic nasopharyngitis (NP), respectively. There were significant differences between NPC and NP or non-NPC (P < = 0.0001) detected by PCR-A. The results indicated that positive PCR-A would be valuable for early diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The reasons which might make those differences were discussed.