<b>Results</b>: We identified a unique 10-gene panel (containing eight target genes, namely NEK2, INHBA, FOXM1, TOP2A, BIRC5, CXCL8, NR3C1, and IVL, relative to two reference genes, YAP1 and POLR2A, collectively named qMIDS<sup>NPC</sup>) that demonstrated the best overall diagnostic performance in segregating NPM from NPC, with AUC = 0.909 and positive/negative predictive values of 91% PPV and 78% NPV, respectively. Here, CXCL8 is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.