These results imply that macrophages recruit CXCR3+ effector T cells through CXCL10 expression at early stage of NPC progression, but at late stage, the NPC microenvironment might undergo a reprogramming from an active into a suppressive state, evidenced by the decline of CXCR3+ effector T cells and the increase of CXCR3+ regulatory T cells. Here, CXCL10 is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.