Economopoulou Panagiota, Bourhis Jean, Psyrri Amanda
From the Second Department of Internal Medicine, Attikon Hospital University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Department of Radiation Oncology, Lausanne University Medical Center, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book. 2015:e323-8. doi: 10.14694/EdBook_AM.2015.35.e323.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a highly heterogeneous group of tumors that develop via one of the two primary carcinogenic pathways: chemical carcinogenesis through exposure to tobacco and alcohol or virally induced tumorigenesis. HPV-negative (HPV-) and HPV-positive (HPV+) HNSCCs represent distinct disease entities, and the latter is associated with a substantially improved outcome. Differences in molecular pathogenesis account for these different outcomes; their staging classification and therapeutic regimens also are currently being re-evaluated, and re-evaluation would be significantly facilitated by robust biomarkers for patient stratification. Through the past years, with the advent of the omics era, a better understanding of the biology of HNSCC has been accompanied by the exploration of a large and rapidly expanding number of targeted agents, which might be incorporated into standard management in the future. In the era of personalized medicine, and with a view to improve the outcomes and quality of life of patients, current research efforts also are focused on the identification of specific biomarkers for treatment selection. Treatment of HNSCC is expected to change in the next decade if molecular biology continues to evolve. Herein, we highlight research progress in HNSCC presented at the fifth International Conference on Innovative Approaches in Head and Neck Oncology (ICHNO).
头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）是一组高度异质性的肿瘤，通过两种主要致癌途径之一发展而来：因接触烟草和酒精导致的化学致癌作用，或病毒诱导的肿瘤发生。HPV阴性（HPV-）和HPV阳性（HPV+）的HNSCC代表不同的疾病实体，后者的预后明显改善。分子发病机制的差异导致了这些不同的结果；它们的分期分类和治疗方案目前也正在重新评估，而强大的生物标志物用于患者分层将极大地促进重新评估。在过去几年中，随着组学时代的到来，对HNSCC生物学的更好理解伴随着大量且迅速增加的靶向药物的探索，这些药物未来可能会纳入标准治疗。在精准医疗时代，为了改善患者的预后和生活质量，目前的研究工作也集中在确定用于治疗选择的特定生物标志物。如果分子生物学继续发展，预计未来十年HNSCC的治疗将会改变。在此，我们重点介绍在第五届头颈部肿瘤创新方法国际会议（ICHNO）上展示的HNSCC研究进展。
