School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland, 200 Turbot Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia ; The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia.
Stem Cells Int. 2013;2013:319489. doi: 10.1155/2013/319489. Epub 2013 Mar 3.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the world's top ten most common cancers. Current survival rates are poor with only 50% of patients expected to survive five years after diagnosis. The poor survival rate of HNSCC is partly attributable to the tendency for diagnosis at the late stage of the disease. One of the reasons for treatment failure is thought to be related to the presence of a subpopulation of cells within the tumour called cancer stem cells (CSCs). CSCs display stem cell-like characteristics that impart resistance to conventional treatment modalities and promote tumour initiation, progression, and metastasis. Specific markers for this population have been investigated in the hope of developing a deeper understanding of their role in the pathogenesis of HNSCC and elucidating novel therapeutic strategies.
头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）是全球十大最常见癌症之一。目前的生存率较差，只有 50%的患者在诊断后五年内有望存活。HNSCC 生存率低的部分原因是疾病晚期诊断的趋势。治疗失败的原因之一被认为与肿瘤内称为癌症干细胞（CSC）的细胞亚群的存在有关。CSC 表现出赋予其对常规治疗方式的抗性并促进肿瘤起始、进展和转移的干细胞样特征。已经研究了该群体的特定标志物，以期深入了解它们在 HNSCC 发病机制中的作用并阐明新的治疗策略。
