Objective: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is one of the leading malignancies with obscure etiology. Circulating tumor cells have been showed to intimately correlate with characteristics in different kinds of cancer. But links between circulating tumor cells and nasopharyngeal carcinoma were still lacking. Therefore, we explored circulating tumor cells' distribution in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and their possible associations with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods: Firstly, we found that the positive ratio of circulating tumor cells is extremely high in four stages of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Meanwhile, positive ratios of mesenchymal circulating tumor cells were higher in early stages of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Apart from epithelial circulating tumor cells, total, hybrid and mesenchymal circulating tumor cells were correlated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma clinical stage. Results: Our results showed that hybrid and mesenchymal circulating tumor cells were associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis (both distant and lymph node) and smoking. Meanwhile, hybrid circulating tumor cells expressed the highest Epstein-Barr virus proteins and deoxyribonucleic acid in three types of circulating tumor cells. Moreover, we found that Epstein-Barr virus proteins viral-caspid antigen-immunoglobulin A (VCA/IgA) and early antigen-immunoglobulin A (EA/IgA), but not Epstein-Barr virus-deoxyribonucleic acid, had a closed association with nasopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis. However, Epstein-Barr virus hallmarks failed to associate with other nasopharyngeal carcinoma characteristics. Furthermore, we confirmed that matrix metalloproteinase 9 existed in circulating tumor cells and expressed most in mesenchymal circulating tumor cells. In addition, matrix metalloproteinase 9-expressed extent in hybrid circulating tumor cells is somewhat different from epithelial and mesenchymal circulating tumor cells in matrix metalloproteinase 9-positive circulating tumor cells. Nevertheless, matrix metalloproteinase 9 had no relationship with other nasopharyngeal carcinoma characteristics. Finally, our results showed that circulating tumor cells were decreased in patients after therapies. carcinoma metastasis. Of note, decreased circulating tumor cells indicated a favorable curative effect in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients.

The aim of this study is investigate the influence of endoscopic sinus surgery on the quality of life and prognosis of patients with early nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Patients initially diagnosed with early nasopharyngeal carcinoma and received surgical treatment were matched with nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients who received chemoradiotherapy at a ratio of 1:1, according to the following seven factors: gender, age, T staging, N staging, clinical staging, radiotherapy options, and chemotherapy options. Patients in the surgery group received endoscopic sinus surgery plus chemoradiotherapy, while subjects in the control group received chemoradiotherapy. The quality of life of patients before and after treatment was evaluated based on the FACT-H&N (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck) and QLQ-H&N35 (Head and Neck Cancer Specific Module) questionnaires. In addition, overall survival and disease-free survival were compared between these two groups. The results showed overall survival was superior in the surgery group compared with the control group ( p = 0.007). However, the difference in disease-free survival between these two groups was not statistically significant ( p = 0.128). Furthermore, subgroup analysis revealed that for N0 patients, the effect of surgery combined with chemoradiotherapy on overall survival was superior to that of chemoradiotherapy ( p = 0.048); while for N1 patients, the difference in overall survival between these two groups was not statistically significant ( p = 0.065). For early nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients without lymph node metastasis, overall survival and disease-free survival in T1 patients were superior to those in T2 patients (χ = 4.403, p = 0.036; χ = 4.542, p = 0.033). At the end of treatment, the pain score was found to be significantly lower in the surgery group than in the chemoradiotherapy group ( p = 0.027). At 3 months and 1 year after treatment, dry mouth scores were significantly lower in the surgery group than in the chemoradiotherapy group ( p = 0.002, p = 0.026). These results demonstrated that the curative effect of surgery combined with chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was satisfactory and was particularly suitable for N0 patients.

Objectives Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is malignant tumor frequently occurring in east and southeast Asia. This study investigated the underlying mechanism of lncRNA HCP5 in NPC cell proliferation and apoptosis. Methods LncRNA HCP5 expression in NPC cells and tissues was detected. SUNE-1 cells were transfected with HCP5 silencing and CNE-1 cells were transfected with overexpressing HCP5, and then cell proliferation and apoptosis were measured. Subcellular localization of HCP5 was analyzed. The binding relationship between lncRNA HCP5 and miR-140-5p, and miR-140-5p and NPR3 were predicted and verified. Expressions of miR-140-5p and NPR3 in NPC cells were detected. SUNE-1 cells and CNE-1 cells were transfected with miR-140-5p mimic, and si-HCP5-transfected SUNE-1 cells were treated with miR-140-5p inhibitor. Then the proliferation and apoptosis of NPC cells were detected. Results LncRNA HCP5 was elevated in NPC tissues and cells. HCP5 silencing suppressed NPC cell proliferation and enhanced apoptosis. HCP5 was mainly located in the cytoplasm of NPC cells. HCP5 promoted NPR3 expression by competitively binding to miR-140-5p. Overexpression of miR-140-5p weakened proliferation and facilitated apoptosis of NPC cells. miR-140-5p inhibitor partially restored the effects of HCP5 silencing on NPC cells. Conclusion LncRNA HCP5 upregulated NPR3 expression via sponging miR-140-5p, thereby suppressing NPC cell proliferation and promoting apoptosis. This study may offer new insights into NPC treatment.