Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Maryland Dental School, 650 West Baltimore Street, 7-North, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
Oral Oncol. 2011 Nov;47(11):1005-10. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2011.08.002. Epub 2011 Aug 23.
Perineural invasion (PNI) is a tropism of tumor cells for nerve bundles in the surrounding stroma. It is a form of tumor spread exhibited by neurotropic malignancies that correlates with aggressive behavior, disease recurrence and increased morbidity and mortality. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a neurotropic malignancy that traditionally has been difficult to treat and manage. Evidence suggests that demonstration of PNI in OSCC should impact adjuvant treatment decisions and surgical management of this disease. Despite its importance as a prognostic indicator, experimental studies to explore the molecular mechanisms responsible for PNI are limited. The aim of this review is to discuss the difficulties in evaluating for PNI, review the literature regarding the relationship of PNI with patient outcomes in OSCC, and summarize the recent studies describing the molecular agents associated with this pathological phenomenon.
神经周围侵犯（PNI）是肿瘤细胞对周围基质中神经束的趋向性。它是神经亲和性恶性肿瘤表现出的一种肿瘤扩散形式，与侵袭性行为、疾病复发以及发病率和死亡率增加相关。口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）是一种神经亲和性恶性肿瘤，传统上一直难以治疗和管理。有证据表明，OSCC 中 PNI 的表现应该影响辅助治疗决策和这种疾病的手术管理。尽管作为预后指标很重要，但探索导致 PNI 的分子机制的实验研究有限。本综述的目的是讨论评估 PNI 的困难，回顾有关 PNI 与 OSCC 患者结局关系的文献，并总结描述与这种病理现象相关的分子试剂的最新研究。
