Extracellular vesicles in liquid biopsies: there is hope for oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Current approaches to oral cancer diagnosis primarily involve physical examination, tissue biopsy, and advanced computer-aided imaging techniques. However, despite these advances, patient survival rates have not significantly improved. Hence, there is a critical need to develop minimally invasive tools with high sensitivity and specificity to improve patient survival and quality of life.

Extracellular Vesicles as Biomarkers in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: From Diagnosis to Disease-Free Survival.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) arising from different anatomical sites present with different incidences and characteristics, which requires a personalized treatment strategy. Despite the extensive research that has conducted on this malignancy, HNSCC still has a poor overall survival rate. Many attempts have been made to improve the outcomes, but one of the bottlenecks is thought to be the lack of an effective biomarker with high sensitivity and specificity.

Convergent dysbiosis of upper aerodigestive microbiota between patients with esophageal and oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.

The bidirectional association between primary esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) suggests common risk factors and oncogenic molecular processes but it is unclear whether these two cancers display similar patterns of dysbiosis in their upper aerodigestive microbiota (UADM). We conducted a case-control study to characterize the microbial communities in esophageal lavage samples from 49 ESCC patients and oral rinse samples from 91 OSCC patients using 16S rRNA V3-V4 amplicon sequencing. Compared with their respective non-SCC controls from the same anatomical sites, 32 and 45 discriminative bacterial genera were detected in ESCC and OSCC patients, respectively.

Tumor-secreted exosomal miR-141 activates tumor-stroma interactions and controls premetastatic niche formation in ovarian cancer metastasis.

Background: Metastatic colonization is one of the critical steps in tumor metastasis. A pre-metastatic niche is required for metastatic colonization and is determined by tumor-stroma interactions, yet the mechanistic underpinnings remain incompletely understood.

Methods: PCR-based miRNome profiling, qPCR, immunofluorescent analyses evaluated the expression of exosomal miR-141 and cell-to-cell communication.

Characterization of oral microbiota in HPV and non-HPV head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and its association with patient outcomes.

Objective: To investigate the interplay among the oral microbiota, HPV infection, traditional risk factors and patient outcomes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Materials And Methods: A multi-center study of HNSCC patients with paired tumor and control tissues. We characterized the oral microbiota and HPV infection of tissues in 166 Chinese adults by sequencing the bacterial 16S rRNA V3-V4 and HPV L1 regions, respectively, and examined the associations among the oral microbiota, HPV and clinical features.

The Role of Arginine Metabolism in Oral Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Early diagnosis and treatment do not prevent the high morbidity and poor prognosis of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). Earlier studies have shown that ARG1 signaling is deregulated in TSCC. Here, we investigated the complexity of ARG1 metabolism in this cancer subsite to appreciate the therapeutic potential of this potential biological vulnerability.

Proteomic Analysis of Circulating Extracellular Vesicles Identifies Potential Biomarkers for Lymph Node Metastasis in Oral Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Lymph node metastasis is the most reliable indicator of a poor prognosis for patients with oral tongue cancers. Currently, there are no biomarkers to predict whether a cancer will spread in the future if it has not already spread at the time of diagnosis. The aim of this study was to quantitatively profile the proteomes of extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolated from blood samples taken from patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma with and without lymph node involvement and non-cancer controls.

Profiling of extracellular vesicles in oral cancer, from transcriptomics to proteomics.

Oral cancers occurring in different subsites can have distinct etiologies' and are a significant problem worldwide. In general, the incidence of oral cancers has declined over the last decade due to improvements in modifiable risk factors (tobacco and alcohol consumption). However, recent data suggest that the incidence of squamous cell carcinomas in the oral tongue and oropharynx are increasing.

Targeting of lipid metabolism with a metabolic inhibitor cocktail eradicates peritoneal metastases in ovarian cancer cells.

Ovarian cancer is an intra-abdominal tumor in which the presence of ascites facilitates metastatic dissemination, and associated with poor prognosis. However, the significance of metabolic alterations in ovarian cancer cells in the ascites microenvironment remains unclear. Here we show ovarian cancer cells exhibited increased aggressiveness in ascites microenvironment via reprogramming of lipid metabolism.

Tumour growth-suppressive effect of arsenic trioxide in squamous cell lung carcinoma.

Lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common subtype of non-small cell lung carcinoma. The anticancer effects of arsenic trioxide (ATO) in lung adenocarcinoma and small-cell lung cancer have previously been reported; however its effects in SCC remain unclear. An MTT assay and western blot analysis were performed to determine cell viability and protein expression, respectively, in the SK-MES-1 and SW900 SCC cell lines following treatment with ATO.

A deliberative framework to identify the need for real-life evidence building of new cancer drugs after interim funding decision.

Background: With the rising cost of new oncology treatments, it is no longer sustainable to base initial drug funding decisions primarily on prospective clinical trials as their performance in real-life populations are often difficult to determine. In British Columbia, an approach in evidence building is to retrospectively analyse patient outcomes using observational research on an ad hoc basis.

Methods: The deliberative framework was constructed in three stages: framework design, framework validation and treatment programme characterization, and key informant interview.

Growth suppressive effect of pegylated arginase in malignant pleural mesothelioma xenografts.

Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a difficult-to-treat global disease. Pegylated arginase (BCT-100) has recently shown anti-tumor effects in hepatocellular carcinoma, acute myeloid leukemia and melanoma. This study aims to investigate the effects of PEG-BCT-100 in MPM.

MicroRNA-141 enhances anoikis resistance in metastatic progression of ovarian cancer through targeting KLF12/Sp1/survivin axis.

Background: Cancer metastasis is determined by the formation of the metastatic niche and the ability of cancer cells to adapt to microenvironmental stresses. Anoikis resistance is a fundamental feature of metastatic cancer cell survival during metastatic cancer progression. However, the mechanisms underlying anoikis resistance in ovarian cancer are still unclear.

Combination effects of arsenic trioxide and fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitor in squamous cell lung carcinoma.

Objectives: Lung cancer remains the top cancer killer worldwide, with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) as the second commonest histologic subtype. Arsenic trioxide (ATO) was previously shown to suppress growth of lung cancer. Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) amplification was recently demonstrated in lung SCC, with specific FGFR inhibitor (e.

E2F1 downregulation by arsenic trioxide in lung adenocarcinoma.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Arsenic trioxide (ATO) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Nonetheless preliminary data have suggested potential activity of ATO in solid tumors including lung cancer.