To investigate whether stem cells participate in inflammation-related carcinogenesis, we performed immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis to examine a nitrative DNA lesion (8-nitroguanine) and several stem cell markers (CD44v6, CD24, and ALDH1A1) in nasopharyngeal tissues obtained from patients with chronic nasopharyngitis or NPC. Here, ALDH1A1 is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.