Genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 knockout screening in nasopharyngeal carcinoma for radiosensitive and radioresistant genes

•Genome-scale CRISPR-Cas9 knockout screening may provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying clinical radioresistance. However, there are few published reports of screening for radiosensitivity and resistance genes in nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) using CRISPR/Cas9 libraries.•Our study used genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9-sgRNA library virus to screen for functional genes associated with radiosensitivity and radioresistance in NPC. It may contribute to the discovery of new therapeutic targets for NPC.•Nine genes involved in the radiosensitivity or radioresistance of NPC: four genes for radiosensitivity (FBLN5, FAM3C, MUS81, and DNAJC17), two genes for radioresistance (CDKN2AIP, SP1), two potential radioresistant genes (TOMM20, SNX22), and a potential radiosensitive gene (CALD1). Meanwhile, the Fanconi anemia pathway and the TGF-beta signaling pathway possibly contributed to radiosensitivity or radioresistance in NPC.