Objective:For the diagnosis of occult nasophargngeal carcinoma. Method:Epstein-Barr virus in 58 fine needle aspirations from cervical metastatic lymphnodes were detected with polymerase chain reaction. Result: The positive reaction was found in 28/35 metastatic carcinoma samples from middle or upside neck. Negative reaction was found in 3 lymphomas,4 metastatic carcinomas in clavicular superior lymphnodes and 15/ 16 inflammatory diseases of cervical lymphnodes. The sensibility of this method for the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was 89.3%. The specificity was 86.7%. Conclusion: The detection of Epstain-Barr virus in metastatic carcinoma from cervical lymphnodes had some clinical values for the diagnosis of occult nasopharyngeal carcinoma.