The importance of stem cell engineering in head and neck oncology

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is the sixth leading cause of cancer worldwide. The most common risk factors are carcinogens (tobacco, alcohol), and infection of the human papilloma virus. Surgery is still considered as the treatment of choice in case of head and neck cancer, followed by a reconstructive surgery to enhance the quality of life in the patients. However, the widespread use of artificial implants does not provide appropriate physiological activities and often cannot act as a long-term solution for the patients. Here we review the applicability of multiple stem cell types for tissue engineering of cartilage, trachea, vocal folds and nerves for head and neck injuries. The ability of the cells to self-renew and maintain their pluripotency state makes them an attractive tool in tissue engineering

Gene Expression Analysis Of Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Survival And Recurrence

The squamous cell carcinomas represent about 90 % of all head and neck cancers, ranking the sixth most common human cancer. Approximately 450,000 of new cases of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are diagnosed every year. Unfortunately, because of diagnosis at the advanced stages and early metastasis to the lymph nodes, the HNSCC is associated with very high death rate. Identification of signature biomarkers and molecularly targeted therapies could provide more effective and specific cancer treatment, prevent recurrence, and increase survival rate. We used paired tumor and adjacent normal tissue samples to screen with RT2 Profiler™ PCR Array Human Cancer Pathway Finder™ . Total of 20 up-regulated genes and two down-regulated genes were screened out. Out of 22 genes, 12 genes were subsequently validated to be significantly altered in the HNSCC; the samples were from all 41 patients. Five year survival and recurrence selected genes that could represent the biomarkers of survival and recurrence of the disease. We believe that comprehensive understanding of the unique genetic characteristics of HNSCC could provide novel diagnostic biomarkers and meet the requirement for molecular-targeted therapy for the HNSCC

Expression Levels Of Insulin-Like Growth Factors 1 And 2 In Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Insulin-like growth factors (IGF) 1 and 2 are known as potential mitogens for normal and neoplastic cells. IGF2 is a main fetal growth factor while IGF1 is activated through growth hormone action during postnatal growth and development. However, there is strong evidence that activation of IGF2 by its E2F transcription factor 3 ( E2F3) is present in different types of cancer. Also high levels of IGF1 strongly correlate with cancer development due to anti-apoptotic properties and enhancement of cancer cell differentiation, which can be attenuated by IGFBP3. Head and neck cancer is known as one of the six most common human cancers. The main risk factor for head and neck cancer is consumption of tobacco and alcohol as well as viral infection and bacterial infection by stimulation of chronic local inflammation. There is also a genetic basis for this form of cancer; however, the genetic markers are not yet established. In this study we investigated the levels of the expression of IGF2, IGF1, E2F3 and IGFBP3 in human cancers and healthy tissues surrounding the tumor obtained from each of 41 patients. Our study indicated that there is no alteration of the levels of expression of IGF2, E2F3 and IGF1 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cases studied in selected experimental population, but there was evidence for upregulation of pro-apoptotic IGFBP3 in cancer when comparing to healthy tissue. These important findings indicate that insulin-growth factors are not directly associated with HNSCC showing some variability between patients and location of tumor. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd