Abstract:Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor of epithelial cells in the nasopharynx. Currently, the main treatment approach is radiation therapy (radiotherapy). The decrease of mortality is closely related to the improvement of technology. Relapse and metastasis are still important factors affecting the prognosis of NPC. Radioresistance of the patients often results in a poor prognosis. In recent years, many research achievements have been made in the mechanisms of NPC. In addition to coding genes that can regulate protein translation, the role of non-coding RNA has also been shown to regulate a variety of pathophysiological processes at the RNA level. Circular RNA (circRNA) mainly act as competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) or microRNA (miRNA) sponge molecules, competitively binds miRNA. It regulates miRNA activity by regulating gene expression at RNA level, thus promote or inhibit related responses, and affect the occurrence and development of diseases. The biological characteristic and expression specificity of circRNA make it promising as a potential biomarker for diagnosis and treatment of NPC. Moreover, gene knockout may also be a new therapeutic approach for NPC. This paper focuses on the recent research progress on the role of circRNA in NPC.
