Earlier, several studies including our present study among the populations of north-eastern India have investigated the relation between p53 codon72 Arg>Pro polymorphism and NPC risk.23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 The purpose of a case–control study of north-eastern Indian populations was also to find out the incidence of different stages of NPC among them and to examine the clinical symptoms manifested by them. The gene discussed is TP53; the disease is nasopharyngeal carcinoma.