ENT Dept., Grant Medical College, B.R. Ambedkar Road, Byculla, Mumbai 8, India.
Oral Oncol. 2011 Apr;47(4):237-43. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2011.02.009. Epub 2011 Mar 5.
Head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer in the world. Effective therapeutic modalities such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and combinations of each are used in the management of this disease. Efforts are ongoing throughout the world to improve early detection and prevention of HNSCCs. Often, treatment fails to obtain total cancer cure and this is more likely with advanced stage disease. In recent years it appears that one of the key determinants of treatment failure may be the presence of cancer stem cells (CSC) that 'escape' currently available therapies. CSCs form a minute portion of the total tumour burden but may play a disproportionately important role in determining outcomes. Molecular mechanisms which underlie the genesis of CSCs are yet not fully understood and their detection within the total tumour bulk remains a challenge. Specific markers like Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1), CD44 and Bmi-1 have shown early promising results both in CSC detection and in guiding treatment protocols. CSCs have been shown to be relatively resistant to standard treatment modalities. It is hoped that developing robust in vitro and in vivo experimental models of CSCs might provide a means of devising more effective therapeutic strategies.
头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）是世界上第六种最常见的癌症。手术、放疗、化疗以及联合应用这些方法是治疗这种疾病的有效手段。全世界都在努力提高 HNSCC 的早期检测和预防水平。然而，治疗往往无法完全治愈癌症，对于晚期疾病尤其如此。近年来，治疗失败的一个关键决定因素似乎是癌症干细胞（CSC）的存在，这些细胞“逃避”了目前可用的治疗方法。CSC 仅占肿瘤总负荷的一小部分，但在决定治疗结果方面可能起着不成比例的重要作用。CSC 产生的分子机制尚未完全理解，在肿瘤总负荷中检测到 CSC 仍然是一个挑战。特定的标志物，如醛脱氢酶 1（ALDH1）、CD44 和 Bmi-1，在 CSC 的检测和指导治疗方案方面都显示出了早期的有希望的结果。CSC 对标准治疗方法相对具有耐药性。人们希望开发出强大的 CSC 体外和体内实验模型，为设计更有效的治疗策略提供一种手段。
