DNA repair genes XPC, XPD, XRCC1, and XRCC3 are associated with risk and survival of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) are a heterogenous group of tumors with a high rate of early recurrences, second primary tumors, and mortality. Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment over the past decades, the overall 5-year survival rate remains around 50%. Since the head-and neck-region is continuously exposed to potentially DNA-damaging exogenous and endogenous factors, it is reasonable to expect that the DNA repair genes play a part in the development, progression, and outcome of HNSCC.

Nuclear expression of WRAP53β is associated with a positive response to radiotherapy and improved overall survival in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Objectives: Today there are no reliable predictive markers for radiotherapy response in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), leading to both under- and over-treatment of patients, personal suffering, and negative socioeconomic effects. Inherited mutation in WRAP53β (WD40 encoding RNA Antisense to p53), a protein involved in intracellular trafficking, dramatically increases the risk of developing HNSCC. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether WRAP53β can predict response to radiotherapy in patients with HNSCC.

MDM2 SNP309 promoter polymorphism confers risk for hereditary melanoma.

The p53 pathway regulates stress response, and variations in p53, MDM2, and MDM4 may predispose an individual to tumor development. The aim of this study was to study the impact of genetic variation on sporadic and hereditary melanoma. We have analyzed a combination of three functionally relevant variants of the p53 pathway in 258 individuals with sporadic malignant melanomas, 50 with hereditary malignant melanomas, and 799 healthy controls.

Alterations of INPP4B, PIK3CA and pAkt of the PI3K pathway are associated with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

The aim of the study was to investigate how alterations in the PI3K pathway correlate with non-small cell lung cancer subtypes squamous cell carcinoma (SSC) and adenocarcinoma (ADCA). We analyzed copy number variation and protein expression of INPP4B, protein expression of pAkt, PDPK1, and PTEN and mutational status of PIK3CA and PTEN in 180 cases. Nineteen% displayed loss of INPP4B copy, whereas 47% lacked expression, both showing correlation with SCC.

Strong expression of survivin is associated with positive response to radiotherapy and improved overall survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a malignancy that is associated with severe mortality despite advances in therapy. Today's standard treatment most commonly includes radiotherapy, often combined with chemotherapy or surgery. There are so far no established biomarkers to predict response to radiation, and thus the aim of this study was to investigate a series of markers that could potentially identify HNSCC patients who would benefit from radiotherapy.

Proteins and single nucleotide polymorphisms involved in apoptosis, growth control, and DNA repair predict cisplatin sensitivity in head and neck cancer cell lines.

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the possibility of using a panel of proteins and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) involved in apoptosis, growth control, and DNA repair as predictive markers for cisplatin sensitivity. For this purpose the intrinsic cisplatin sensitivity (ICS) was determined in 39 cell lines derived from squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck using a colony-forming assay. In these cell lines and in normal oral keratinocytes (NOK), the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Hsp70, Bax, Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, survivin, and COX-2 was determined.

ErbB receptor tyrosine kinases contribute to proliferation of malignant melanoma cells: inhibition by gefitinib (ZD1839).

Members of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family of structurally related tyrosine kinase receptors, known as the ErbB receptors (EGFR/ErbB1/HER1, ErbB2/HER2/neu, ErbB3/HER3 and ErbB4/HER4) and their respective ligands, have been suggested to be involved in the development and progression of malignant melanoma. Here we investigate the effects of the ErbB1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib (ZD1839, Iressa) on human malignant melanoma cells (RaH3 and RaH5) in vitro. ZD1839 inhibited proliferation of exponentially growing RaH3 and RaH5 cells in a dose-dependent manner with a half-maximally effective dose of 3.

Polymorphism of FGFR4 in cancer development and sensitivity to cisplatin and radiation in head and neck cancer.

The aim of this study was to investigate the predisposition of the FGFR4 Gly/Arg polymorphism for development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and, furthermore, to examine if the FGFR4 Arg(388) allele can be associated with resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy. When analysing 110 tumour biopsies a significant 1.7-fold increased risk to develop HNSCC in individuals carrying the Gly(388) allele (p=0.