Drug Resistance of Head and Neck Cancer
A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 602
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Drug resistance in head and neck cancer (HNC) remains a major health problem worldwide. Head and neck cancer can arise in the lips, oral cavity, nasal cavity, pharynx, larynx, and salivary glands, and accounts for approximately 890,000 new cases and more than 450,000 deaths each year. The majority of HNC occurs in the oral cavity and approximately 90% of HNC is categorized as head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Despite the recent advances in therapeutic modalities, the prognosis and 5-year survival rates for patients with advanced, recurrent, and metastatic diseases remain poor due to treatment resistance.
The current standard-of-care for HNC involves surgical removal combined with radiation and chemotherapy (such as cisplatin, carboplatin, or paclitaxel) or an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) targeting immunotherapy, cetuximab. Unfortunately, more than half of locally advanced HNC cases recur or become metastatic following the treatment and no longer respond to the therapy. The mechanism driving the development of resistance to therapy remains an ongoing crucial topic for exploration but is currently understudied.
Multidrug resistance (MDR) and survival mechanisms such as involving enhanced drug efflux, metabolism, noncoding RNAs, and cancer stem cells (CSCs) are known to contribute to the development of drug resistance in HNC. CSCs are subpopulations of cancer cells with stem cell-like properties thought to be responsible for treatment resistance, recurrence, and metastasis. It is generally believed that CSCs can emerge as part of the early cancer evolution or are induced during and following treatment. The mechanism driving the evolution or acquisition of CSCs in HNC is still poorly understood. The current Special Issue will address the current status and future novel directions for understanding drug resistance in head and neck cancer.
Dr. Ali Khammanivong
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- head and neck cancer
- mechanisms of resistance
- cancer stem cells
- metabolism
- drug efflux
- noncoding RNAs
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