Objective To investigate the expression of RAB11A in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and its effect on the malignant biological behavior of NPC cells.

Methods The differences in the transcription level of RAB11A in the NPC epithelium and the normal nasopharyngeal epithelium (NNE) were compared using a public database GEO, and protein expression level of RAB11A was verified by western blotting and immunohistochemistry techniques. RAB11A was knocked down and overexpressed in NPC cells using siRNA and overexpressed plasmid, respectively. The invasive ability of the cells was detected by Transwell assay.

Results Compared with NNE, RAB11A showed higher transcription and protein expression levels in NPC (all P < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the AUC of RAB11A mRNA in diagnosing NPC was 0.748 (95% CI: 0.667-0.829), and the survival time of patients with higher mRNA expression level was shorter (P= 0.00063). In addition, knockdown of RAB11A significantly inhibited the invasion ability of NPC cells (P < 0.05), whereas overexpression of RAB11A significantly enhanced the invasion ability of NPC cells (P < 0.01).

Conclusion RAB11A is a potential tumor-promoting factor in NPC, and may be an effective molecular marker for diagnosis and prognosis prediction of NPC.