鼻咽癌（NPC）是一种表皮恶性肿瘤，对于Epstein-Barr病毒（EBV）呈阳性，并影响全球多个人群。由于初次治疗后出现高复发率和转移率，迫切需要寻找新的NPC治疗候选物。近年来，环状RNA（circRNA）作为癌症诊断和预防的有希望的靶点逐渐崭露头角。本研究旨在研究NPC患者富集的circRNA，并进一步分析相关的信号通路。我们使用一种名为psirc的新的生物信息学工具来分析NPC患者和正常标本的RNA测序数据集，以研究NPC富集的circRNA。我们在这些样本中鉴定和定量化全长circRNA，并发现NPC患者与对照样本相比，前十位富集的circRNA。此外，我们选择最富集的circRNA，circEEF1A1_E8B1，并研究了其蛋白编码能力、微型RNA和RNA结合蛋白（RBP）结合能力。我们还构建了其结合蛋白的蛋白质相互作用（PPI）网络，并提取了中心基因。最后，我们对这些中心基因在头颈癌患者中进行了生存分析。总之，我们的研究揭示了NPC患者中富集的以前未知的circRNA的存在。通过对它们的分子功能进行分析，我们推进了我们对circRNA在NPC发展中潜在作用的理解。©2023.作者（们）在韩国遗传学会独家许可下。

Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is a type of epithelial malignancy that is positive for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and affects several populations worldwide. Due to the high rates of relapse and metastasis following primary treatment, there is an urgent need to identify new candidates for NPC therapy. Recently, circular RNA (circRNA) has emerged as a promising target for cancer diagnosis and prevention.This study aimed to study the circRNAs enriched in NPC patients, and further analyze potential signaling pathways involved.A new bioinformatic tool named psirc was used to analyze RNA-sequencing datasets from NPC patients and normal specimens to study the NPC-enriched circRNAs.We identified and quantified the full-length circRNA in these samples and found the top 10 enriched circRNAs in NPC patients compared to control samples. Furthermore, we selected the most enriched circRNA, circEEF1A1_E8B1, and studied its protein coding ability, microRNA and RNA-binding protein (RBP) binding capacity. We also constructed a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network for its binding proteins and extracted hub genes. Finally, we conducted survival analysis for these hub genes in head and neck cancer patients.In summary, our study has revealed the presence of previously unidentified circRNAs that are enriched in NPC patients. Through an analysis of their molecular functions, we have advanced our understanding of the potential role of circRNAs in NPC development.© 2023. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Genetics Society of Korea.