REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1665152
This article is part of the Research TopicCommunity Series in Tumor Microenvironment and Metabolic Reprogramming in Cancer: Volume IIView all 8 articles
Aberrant Epigenetic Regulation in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Immune Microenvironment Remodeling, Invasion-Metastasis Promotion, and Therapeutic Implications
Provisionally accepted
Yimao Wu1
Feiyang Tang1
Junying Lee1
Ruowei Sun2Zifeng Chen3
Zichang Chen1
Xiaoyan Chen1Bo Tang4Junlong Zhu5
Yifeng Shen5*- 1Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China
- 2Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, Lianyungang, China
- 3Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macao, SAR China
- 4Chengdu Pidu District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Chengdu, China
- 5Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
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Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignancy with high metastatic potential, particularly prevalent in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNA regulation, play pivotal roles in driving NPC invasion and metastasis by modulating key biological processes such as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), tumor microenvironment remodeling, and signal pathway dysregulation. This review systematically summarizes the core mechanisms of epigenetic regulation in NPC, highlighting aberrant methylation (DNA, RNA, protein), histone post-translational modifications (acetylation, phosphorylation, ubiquitination, palmitoylation), and the dysregulation of non-coding RNAs. It further discusses the prognostic value of epigenetic markers and novel therapeutic strategies targeting these abnormalities, including small-molecule inhibitors, epigenetic editing, and non-coding RNA-based interventions. Despite progress, challenges remain, such as tumor heterogeneity, off-target effects of therapies, and limited clinical translation. This review underscores the significance of epigenetic regulation in NPC pathogenesis, provides insights into precision medicine approaches to improve patient outcomes, and highlights that the insights presented herein lay the groundwork for biomarker-driven immunotherapies and precision epigenetic interventions in NPC.
Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Epigenetic regulation, DNA Methylation, histone modification, metastasis, therapeutic targets, biomarkers
Received: 13 Jul 2025; Accepted: 26 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wu, Tang, Lee, Sun, Chen, Chen, Chen, Tang, Zhu and Shen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yifeng Shen, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
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