Due to distant metastasis occuring mainly in the 2–3 years after treatment in NPC, as well as it being the major cause of treatment failure, in the present study, we aimed to assess whether the expression of DNA-PKcs and BRCA1 may be used as prognostic markers of distant metastasis-free survival in patients with NPC who underwent IMRT. This evidence concerns the gene BRCA1 and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.