Overall, this comprehensive analysis provides insights into the distribution of core target expression within the complex microenvironment of NPC tissue, showing the potential significance of AKT1, CTNNB1, HSP90AA1, CASP3, BCL2, STAT3, and MMP9 in driving NPC pathogenesis, while highlighting ESR1's potential regulatory divergence. Here, MMP9 is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.