U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma

MedGen UID:
419909
•Concept ID:
C2931822
•
Neoplastic Process
Synonym: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, somatic
SNOMED CT: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (449248000)
Modes of inheritance:
Non-Mendelian inheritance
MedGen UID:
109109
•Concept ID:
C0600599
•
Genetic Function
Source: Orphanet
A mode of inheritance that depends on genetic determinants in more than one gene.
Not genetically inherited
MedGen UID:
988794
•Concept ID:
CN307044
•
Finding
Source: Orphanet
clinical entity without genetic inheritance.
See: This record
Non-Mendelian inheritance (Orphanet)
Not genetically inherited (Orphanet)
 
Gene (location): TP53 (17p13.1)
 
Monarch Initiative: MONDO:0015459
OMIM®: 607107
Orphanet: ORPHA150

Definition

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC, NPCA) is a multifactorial malignancy associated with both genetic and environmental factors. The cancer arises from the epithelium of the nasopharynx. The Epstein-Barr virus has been implicated (Tse et al., 2009). Genetic Heterogeneity of Susceptibility to Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma NPCA1 maps to chromosome 4p. NPCA2 (161550) maps to chromosome 6p21. NPCA3 (617075) is associated with variation in the MST1R gene (600168) on chromosome 3p21. Somatic mutations have been found in the TP53 gene (191170) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tumors. [from OMIM]

Clinical features

From HPO
Nasopharyngeal neoplasm
MedGen UID:
6526
•Concept ID:
C0027439
•
Neoplastic Process
A benign or malignant neoplasm affecting the nasopharynx. Representative examples of benign neoplasms include angiofibroma and squamous papilloma. Representative examples of malignant neoplasms include keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma and nonkeratinizing carcinoma.
See: Feature record | Search on this feature

Term Hierarchy

CClinical test,  RResearch test,  OOMIM,  GGeneReviews,  VClinVar  
  • CROGVNasopharyngeal carcinoma
Follow this link to review classifications for Nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Orphanet.

Professional guidelines

PubMed

International Consensus Statement on Allergy and Rhinology: Sinonasal Tumors.
Kuan EC, Wang EW, Adappa ND, Beswick DM, London NR Jr, Su SY, Wang MB, Abuzeid WM, Alexiev B, Alt JA, Antognoni P, Alonso-Basanta M, Batra PS, Bhayani M, Bell D, Bernal-Sprekelsen M, Betz CS, Blay JY, Bleier BS, Bonilla-Velez J, Callejas C, Carrau RL, Casiano RR, Castelnuovo P, Chandra RK, Chatzinakis V, Chen SB, Chiu AG, Choby G, Chowdhury NI, Citardi MJ, Cohen MA, Dagan R, Dalfino G, Dallan I, Dassi CS, de Almeida J, Dei Tos AP, DelGaudio JM, Ebert CS, El-Sayed IH, Eloy JA, Evans JJ, Fang CH, Farrell NF, Ferrari M, Fischbein N, Folbe A, Fokkens WJ, Fox MG, Lund VJ, Gallia GL, Gardner PA, Geltzeiler M, Georgalas C, Getz AE, Govindaraj S, Gray ST, Grayson JW, Gross BA, Grube JG, Guo R, Ha PK, Halderman AA, Hanna EY, Harvey RJ, Hernandez SC, Holtzman AL, Hopkins C, Huang Z, Huang Z, Humphreys IM, Hwang PH, Iloreta AM, Ishii M, Ivan ME, Jafari A, Kennedy DW, Khan M, Kimple AJ, Kingdom TT, Knisely A, Kuo YJ, Lal D, Lamarre ED, Lan MY, Le H, Lechner M, Lee NY, Lee JK, Lee VH, Levine CG, Lin JC, Lin DT, Lobo BC, Locke T, Luong AU, Magliocca KR, Markovic SN, Matnjani G, McKean EL, Meço C, Mendenhall WM, Michel L, Na'ara S, Nicolai P, Nuss DW, Nyquist GG, Oakley GM, Omura K, Orlandi RR, Otori N, Papagiannopoulos P, Patel ZM, Pfister DG, Phan J, Psaltis AJ, Rabinowitz MR, Ramanathan M Jr, Rimmer R, Rosen MR, Sanusi O, Sargi ZB, Schafhausen P, Schlosser RJ, Sedaghat AR, Senior BA, Shrivastava R, Sindwani R, Smith TL, Smith KA, Snyderman CH, Solares CA, Sreenath SB, Stamm A, Stölzel K, Sumer B, Surda P, Tajudeen BA, Thompson LDR, Thorp BD, Tong CCL, Tsang RK, Turner JH, Turri-Zanoni M, Udager AM, van Zele T, VanKoevering K, Welch KC, Wise SK, Witterick IJ, Won TB, Wong SN, Woodworth BA, Wormald PJ, Yao WC, Yeh CF, Zhou B, Palmer JN
Int Forum Allergy Rhinol 2024 Feb;14(2):149-608. Epub 2024 Jan 2 doi: 10.1002/alr.23262. PMID: 37658764
The tumor immune microenvironment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma after gemcitabine plus cisplatin treatment.
Lv J, Wei Y, Yin JH, Chen YP, Zhou GQ, Wei C, Liang XY, Zhang Y, Zhang CJ, He SW, He QM, Huang ZL, Guan JL, Shen JY, Li XM, Li JY, Li WF, Tang LL, Mao YP, Guo R, Sun R, Zheng YH, Zhou WW, Xiong KX, Wang SQ, Jin X, Liu N, Li GB, Kuang DM, Sun Y, Ma J
Nat Med 2023 Jun;29(6):1424-1436. Epub 2023 Jun 6 doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02369-6. PMID: 37280275
Management of locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Lee AWM, Ng WT, Chan JYW, Corry J, Mäkitie A, Mendenhall WM, Rinaldo A, Rodrigo JP, Saba NF, Strojan P, Suárez C, Vermorken JB, Yom SS, Ferlito A
Cancer Treat Rev 2019 Sep;79:101890. Epub 2019 Aug 21 doi: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2019.101890. PMID: 31470314

Curated

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), Head and Neck Cancers, 2024

Recent clinical studies

Etiology

Epidemiology of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: current insights and future outlook.
Su ZY, Siak PY, Lwin YY, Cheah SC
Cancer Metastasis Rev 2024 Sep;43(3):919-939. Epub 2024 Mar 2 doi: 10.1007/s10555-024-10176-9. PMID: 38430391
Radiomics and Deep Learning in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Review.
Wang Z, Fang M, Zhang J, Tang L, Zhong L, Li H, Cao R, Zhao X, Liu S, Zhang R, Xie X, Mai H, Qiu S, Tian J, Dong D
IEEE Rev Biomed Eng 2024;17:118-135. Epub 2024 Jan 12 doi: 10.1109/RBME.2023.3269776. PMID: 37097799
Exosomes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Liu Y, Wen J, Huang W
Clin Chim Acta 2021 Dec;523:355-364. Epub 2021 Oct 16 doi: 10.1016/j.cca.2021.10.013. PMID: 34666030
Management of locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Lee AWM, Ng WT, Chan JYW, Corry J, Mäkitie A, Mendenhall WM, Rinaldo A, Rodrigo JP, Saba NF, Strojan P, Suárez C, Vermorken JB, Yom SS, Ferlito A
Cancer Treat Rev 2019 Sep;79:101890. Epub 2019 Aug 21 doi: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2019.101890. PMID: 31470314
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Chen YP, Chan ATC, Le QT, Blanchard P, Sun Y, Ma J
Lancet 2019 Jul 6;394(10192):64-80. Epub 2019 Jun 6 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30956-0. PMID: 31178151

Diagnosis

Immunotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: Current status and prospects (Review).
Huang H, Yao Y, Deng X, Huang Z, Chen Y, Wang Z, Hong H, Huang H, Lin T
Int J Oncol 2023 Aug;63(2) Epub 2023 Jul 7 doi: 10.3892/ijo.2023.5545. PMID: 37417358Free PMC Article
Chemotherapy and chemo-resistance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Guan S, Wei J, Huang L, Wu L
Eur J Med Chem 2020 Dec 1;207:112758. Epub 2020 Aug 20 doi: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112758. PMID: 32858472
Management of locally recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Lee AWM, Ng WT, Chan JYW, Corry J, Mäkitie A, Mendenhall WM, Rinaldo A, Rodrigo JP, Saba NF, Strojan P, Suárez C, Vermorken JB, Yom SS, Ferlito A
Cancer Treat Rev 2019 Sep;79:101890. Epub 2019 Aug 21 doi: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2019.101890. PMID: 31470314
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Chen YP, Chan ATC, Le QT, Blanchard P, Sun Y, Ma J
Lancet 2019 Jul 6;394(10192):64-80. Epub 2019 Jun 6 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30956-0. PMID: 31178151
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Chua MLK, Wee JTS, Hui EP, Chan ATC
Lancet 2016 Mar 5;387(10022):1012-1024. Epub 2015 Aug 28 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00055-0. PMID: 26321262

Therapy

Toripalimab Plus Chemotherapy for Recurrent or Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: The JUPITER-02 Randomized Clinical Trial.
Mai HQ, Chen QY, Chen D, Hu C, Yang K, Wen J, Li J, Shi Y, Jin F, Xu R, Pan J, Qu S, Li P, Hu C, Liu YC, Jiang Y, He X, Wang HM, Lim WT, Liao W, He X, Chen X, Wang S, Yuan X, Li Q, Lin X, Jing S, Chen Y, Lu Y, Hsieh CY, Yang MH, Yen CJ, Samol J, Luo X, Wang X, Tang X, Feng H, Yao S, Keegan P, Xu RH
JAMA 2023 Nov 28;330(20):1961-1970. doi: 10.1001/jama.2023.20181. PMID: 38015220Free PMC Article
Immunotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: Current status and prospects (Review).
Huang H, Yao Y, Deng X, Huang Z, Chen Y, Wang Z, Hong H, Huang H, Lin T
Int J Oncol 2023 Aug;63(2) Epub 2023 Jul 7 doi: 10.3892/ijo.2023.5545. PMID: 37417358Free PMC Article
The tumor immune microenvironment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma after gemcitabine plus cisplatin treatment.
Lv J, Wei Y, Yin JH, Chen YP, Zhou GQ, Wei C, Liang XY, Zhang Y, Zhang CJ, He SW, He QM, Huang ZL, Guan JL, Shen JY, Li XM, Li JY, Li WF, Tang LL, Mao YP, Guo R, Sun R, Zheng YH, Zhou WW, Xiong KX, Wang SQ, Jin X, Liu N, Li GB, Kuang DM, Sun Y, Ma J
Nat Med 2023 Jun;29(6):1424-1436. Epub 2023 Jun 6 doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02369-6. PMID: 37280275
Efficacy, Safety, and Correlative Biomarkers of Toripalimab in Previously Treated Recurrent or Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Phase II Clinical Trial (POLARIS-02).
Wang FH, Wei XL, Feng J, Li Q, Xu N, Hu XC, Liao W, Jiang Y, Lin XY, Zhang QY, Yuan XL, Huang HX, Chen Y, Dai GH, Shi JH, Shen L, Yang SJ, Shu YQ, Liu YP, Wang W, Wu H, Feng H, Yao S, Xu RH
J Clin Oncol 2021 Mar 1;39(7):704-712. Epub 2021 Jan 25 doi: 10.1200/JCO.20.02712. PMID: 33492986Free PMC Article
Gemcitabine and Cisplatin Induction Chemotherapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.
Zhang Y, Chen L, Hu GQ, Zhang N, Zhu XD, Yang KY, Jin F, Shi M, Chen YP, Hu WH, Cheng ZB, Wang SY, Tian Y, Wang XC, Sun Y, Li JG, Li WF, Li YH, Tang LL, Mao YP, Zhou GQ, Sun R, Liu X, Guo R, Long GX, Liang SQ, Li L, Huang J, Long JH, Zang J, Liu QD, Zou L, Su QF, Zheng BM, Xiao Y, Guo Y, Han F, Mo HY, Lv JW, Du XJ, Xu C, Liu N, Li YQ, Chua MLK, Xie FY, Sun Y, Ma J
N Engl J Med 2019 Sep 19;381(12):1124-1135. Epub 2019 May 31 doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1905287. PMID: 31150573

Prognosis

Epidemiology of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: current insights and future outlook.
Su ZY, Siak PY, Lwin YY, Cheah SC
Cancer Metastasis Rev 2024 Sep;43(3):919-939. Epub 2024 Mar 2 doi: 10.1007/s10555-024-10176-9. PMID: 38430391
Patterns and prognosis of regional recurrence in nasopharyngeal carcinoma after intensity-modulated radiotherapy.
Xiao XT, Wu YS, Chen YP, Liu X, Guo R, Tang LL, Ma J, Li WF
Cancer Med 2023 Jan;12(2):1399-1408. Epub 2022 Jul 13 doi: 10.1002/cam4.5020. PMID: 35822664Free PMC Article
Lethal Epistaxis.
Byard RW
J Forensic Sci 2016 Sep;61(5):1244-9. Epub 2016 Jun 10 doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.13119. PMID: 27282512
Pediatric Head and Neck Malignancies.
Qaisi M, Eid I
Oral Maxillofac Surg Clin North Am 2016 Feb;28(1):11-9. doi: 10.1016/j.coms.2015.07.008. PMID: 26614697
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Vokes EE, Liebowitz DN, Weichselbaum RR
Lancet 1997 Oct 11;350(9084):1087-91. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(97)07269-3. PMID: 10213566

Clinical prediction guides

The Treatment of Primary Lymphoepithelioma-Like Carcinoma in the Head and Neck and Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.
Lin Q, Du M, Yan S, Zhang X, Li X, Zhang Y, Zhang S, Chen S, Song M
Cancer Med 2024 Nov;13(22):e70389. doi: 10.1002/cam4.70389. PMID: 39540315Free PMC Article
Role of chemotherapy in patients with nasopharynx carcinoma treated with radiotherapy (MAC-NPC): an updated individual patient data network meta-analysis.
Petit C, Lee A, Ma J, Lacas B, Ng WT, Chan ATC, Hong RL, Chen MY, Chen L, Li WF, Huang PY, Tan T, Ngan RKC, Zhu G, Mai HQ, Hui EP, Fountzilas G, Zhang L, Carmel A, Kwong DLW, Moon J, Bourhis J, Auperin A, Pignon JP, Blanchard P; MAC-NPC Collaborative Group
Lancet Oncol 2023 Jun;24(6):611-623. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00163-8. PMID: 37269842
Effect of Radiotherapy Alone vs Radiotherapy With Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy on Survival Without Disease Relapse in Patients With Low-risk Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Tang LL, Guo R, Zhang N, Deng B, Chen L, Cheng ZB, Huang J, Hu WH, Huang SH, Luo WJ, Liang JH, Zheng YM, Zhang F, Mao YP, Li WF, Zhou GQ, Liu X, Chen YP, Xu C, Lin L, Liu Q, Du XJ, Zhang Y, Sun Y, Ma J
JAMA 2022 Aug 23;328(8):728-736. doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.13997. PMID: 35997729Free PMC Article
Development and validation of a gene expression-based signature to predict distant metastasis in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a retrospective, multicentre, cohort study.
Tang XR, Li YQ, Liang SB, Jiang W, Liu F, Ge WX, Tang LL, Mao YP, He QM, Yang XJ, Zhang Y, Wen X, Zhang J, Wang YQ, Zhang PP, Sun Y, Yun JP, Zeng J, Li L, Liu LZ, Liu N, Ma J
Lancet Oncol 2018 Mar;19(3):382-393. Epub 2018 Feb 7 doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30080-9. PMID: 29428165
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a review.
Petersson F
Semin Diagn Pathol 2015 Jan;32(1):54-73. Epub 2015 Feb 25 doi: 10.1053/j.semdp.2015.02.021. PMID: 25769204

Recent systematic reviews

Induction chemotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma- A systematic review of phase III clinical trials.
Nazeer F, Poulose JV, Kainickal CT
Cancer Treat Res Commun 2022;32:100589. Epub 2022 Jun 12 doi: 10.1016/j.ctarc.2022.100589. PMID: 35724627
MRI detection of suspected nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Gorolay VV, Niles NN, Huo YR, Ahmadi N, Hanneman K, Thompson E, Chan MV
Neuroradiology 2022 Aug;64(8):1471-1481. Epub 2022 Apr 30 doi: 10.1007/s00234-022-02941-w. PMID: 35499636Free PMC Article
Chemotherapy in Combination With Radiotherapy for Definitive-Intent Treatment of Stage II-IVA Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: CSCO and ASCO Guideline.
Chen YP, Ismaila N, Chua MLK, Colevas AD, Haddad R, Huang SH, Wee JTS, Whitley AC, Yi JL, Yom SS, Chan ATC, Hu CS, Lang JY, Le QT, Lee AWM, Lee N, Lin JC, Ma B, Morgan TJ, Shah J, Sun Y, Ma J
J Clin Oncol 2021 Mar 1;39(7):840-859. Epub 2021 Jan 6 doi: 10.1200/JCO.20.03237. PMID: 33405943
International Guideline on Dose Prioritization and Acceptance Criteria in Radiation Therapy Planning for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.
Lee AW, Ng WT, Pan JJ, Chiang CL, Poh SS, Choi HC, Ahn YC, AlHussain H, Corry J, Grau C, Grégoire V, Harrington KJ, Hu CS, Kwong DL, Langendijk JA, Le QT, Lee NY, Lin JC, Lu TX, Mendenhall WM, O'Sullivan B, Ozyar E, Peters LJ, Rosenthal DI, Sanguineti G, Soong YL, Tao Y, Yom SS, Wee JT
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2019 Nov 1;105(3):567-580. Epub 2019 Jul 2 doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2019.06.2540. PMID: 31276776
Screening for nasopharyngeal cancer.
Yang S, Wu S, Zhou J, Chen XY
Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2015 Nov 6;2015(11):CD008423. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008423.pub2. PMID: 26544798Free PMC Article

Supplemental Content

Table of contents

    Clinical resources

    Practice guidelines

    • PubMed
      See practice and clinical guidelines in PubMed. The search results may include broader topics and may not capture all published guidelines. See the FAQ for details.
    • Bookshelf
      See practice and clinical guidelines in NCBI Bookshelf. The search results may include broader topics and may not capture all published guidelines. See the FAQ for details.

    Curated

    • NCCN, 2024
      NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), Head and Neck Cancers, 2024

    Reviews

    Recent activity

    Clear Turn Off Turn On

    Your browsing activity is empty.

    Activity recording is turned off.

    Turn recording back on

    See more...