OBJECTIVE To study the proliferation characteristics of nasopharyngeal carcinoma stem cells and to explore their molecular mechanisms. METHODS Nasopharyngeal carcinoma stem cells CNE2-SC and 5-8 F-SC were obtained by serum-free suspension culture with CNE2 and 5-8 F cells. And on the basis of this, cell counting instrument and colony formation assay were used to check the proliferation of stem cells, and Western blot test were used to test protein expression levels. RESULTS The growth rate of nasopharyngeal carcinoma stem cells was significantly lower than that of which the nasopharyngeal carc...