Title:Recent Advances in Nasopharyngeal Cancer Management: From Diagnosis
to Theranostics
Volume: 20
Issue: 1
Author(s): Rajaa Benzeid, Amina Gihbid, Nadia Benchekroun, Nezha Tawfiq, Abdellatif Benider, Mohammed Attaleb, Abdelkarim Filali Maltouf, Mohammed El Mzibri, Meriem Khyatti and Imane Chaoui*
Affiliation:
- Department of Life Sciences, National Centre for Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, Rabat, Morocco
Keywords:
Nasopharyngeal, cancer, radioresistance, detoxification, DNA reparation, theranostics.
Abstract: Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is one of the most common head and neck cancers.
NPC differs significantly from other cancers in its etiology, epidemiology, clinical behavior,
and treatment. Being highly radiosensitive, the standard treatment for NPC is radiotherapy.
However, radioresistance hampers the success of treatment and may cause local recurrence
and distant metastases in NPC patients. In this review, we discuss the updated protocols
for NPC diagnosis and treatment based on recent literature with an emphasis on the
mechanisms of radioresistance at the molecular level with a special focus on genetic and epigenetic
events, affecting genes involved in xenobiotic detoxification and DNA repair. We
also highlight the importance of some cellular and Epstein Barr viral miRNAs targeting
specific DNA repair factors and consequently promoting NPC radioresistance. These molecular
markers may serve as promising tools for diagnosis, prognosis, and radioresistance
prediction to guide theranostics of patients with NPC in the future.
