Establishment and characterization of triple drug resistant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines.

Resistance to chemotherapy leading to poor outcome and survival remains a challenge for developing strategies for therapeutic interventions in all types of cancer, including head and neck cancer. In vitro chemoresistant cell line models are an indispensable resource towards delineating the mechanisms involved in drug resistance/response and for the development of novel drugs. Current treatment for head and neck cancer includes chemotherapy with cisplatin, docetaxel and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and the response rates to these drugs in patients is 60-80%.