Asides from NDRG1, we identified a total of 52 up-regulated proteins and 36 down-regulated proteins altered gradually along with the tumor stage (Additional file 4: Fig S4B), among which IL-1 receptor-associated kinase 1 (IRAK1) and colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) were already reported to be potential drug targets in the therapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma [38], FGFR1-driven hematological malignancies [39] and sarcoma [40], separately (Additional file 4: Fig S4C). Here, CSF1R is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.