Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a kind of malignant tumour originating from the mucosal epithelium of the nasopharynx, which has apparent regional distribution characteristics, and its incidence is increasing yearly. At present, the primary treatment method for nasopharyngeal carcinoma is radiotherapy, but radioresistance has become a complex problem to overcome to improve the therapeutic effect. Recently, ferroptosis has been proposed as a new type of iron-dependent programmed cell death, distinct from apoptosis, cell necrosis and autophagy. Many studies have shown that ferroptosis is involved in the occurrence, development, invasion and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, and promoting the occurrence of ferroptosis of the same cells is a promising treatment method that should be written in the prospect. Therefore, this paper summarizes the mechanism of action of ferroptosis and its role in treating the same as above.