AIM: To investigate the relationship of microRNA-7 ( miRNA-7 ) over-expression and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/phosphatidylinositol kinase-3 (PI3K)/protein kinase B (PKB, also called Akt) pathway in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma 5-8F cells.METHODS:The 5-8F cells were transfected with miRNA-7 mimics (car-rying by Lipofectamine 2000).The expression of miRNA-7 was detected by real-time PCR.The cell proliferation was ana-lyzed by CCK-8 assay.The cell colony-forming capability was determined by cell colony formation test.The expression of EGFR/PI3K/Akt at mRNA and protein levels was examined by real-time PCR and Western blotting.RESULTS:The ex-pression level of miRNA-7 was significantly increased in 5-8F cells compared with negative control ( NC) group and control group ( P<0.01) .The proliferation of NPC 5-8F cells was decreased extremely after tansfected with the miRNA-7 mimics (P<0.01), so did the result of the cell colony-formation test.The expression of EGFR/PI3K/Akt at mRNA and protein levels was significantly down-regulated compared with NC group and control group (P<0.01).CONCLUSION:Over-ex-pression of miRNA-7 significantly inhibits the proliferation and colony-forming ability of nasopharyngeal carcinoma 5-8F cells by down-regulation of EGFR/PI3K/Akt pathway.