Importantly, IHC staining for cleaved caspase-3, β-catenin, and collagen II showed that the expression levels of cleaved caspase-3 and β-catenin in IDD and IDD + LV-NC groups increased, while the expression level of collagen II decreased significantly, indicating that NPC apoptosis and ECM catabolism increased in the process of IDD. Here, CASP3 is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.