Novel therapeutic target for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: HGF-MET signaling pathway.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) represents a devastating type of malignancy characterized by its high incidence of regional and distant metastases at the time of diagnosis. Vital physiological functions in the upper aerodigestive tract are often impaired as a result of the disease and treatment for the disease, giving rise to severe morbidity in patients suffering from this type of cancer. It is crucial to delineate the aberrant growth signaling pathways in HNSCC cells and develop specific target therapies for the disease to improve the treatment outcome.