TNF and nasopharyngeal carcinoma: ID2, ID3, TRAF3, TRAF5, REL, TNF and CD40, genes or pathways previously shown to be affected in NPC were the predicted upstream regulators for the pathways identified by the genes significantly upregulated in NPC on the heat map (Fig 4A-4) and involved in CD40 signaling, EMT, NFKB signaling, and PI3K signaling.