Swanson Mark S, Kokot Niels, Sinha Uttam K
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Southern California, 1450 San Pablo St, Suite 5100, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
Cancers (Basel). 2016 Feb 19;8(2):24. doi: 10.3390/cancers8020024.
The cancer stem cell (CSC) theory proposes that a minority of tumor cells are capable of self-replication and tumorigenesis. It is these minority of cells that are responsible for cancer metastasis and recurrence in head and neck squamous cell cancers (HNSCC). Human papilloma virus (HPV)-related cancer of the oropharynx is becoming more prevalent, which makes understanding of the relationship between HPV and CSCs more important than ever. This relationship is critical because CSC behavior can be predicted based on cell surface markers, which makes them a suitable candidate for targeted therapy. New therapies are an exciting opportunity to advance past the stalled outcomes in HNSCC that have plagued patients and clinicians for several decades.
癌症干细胞（CSC）理论提出，少数肿瘤细胞具有自我复制和肿瘤发生的能力。正是这些少数细胞导致了头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）的癌症转移和复发。人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）相关的口咽癌正变得越来越普遍，这使得了解HPV与CSC之间的关系比以往任何时候都更加重要。这种关系至关重要，因为CSC的行为可以根据细胞表面标志物进行预测，这使其成为靶向治疗的合适候选者。新疗法是一个令人兴奋的机会，可以突破几十年来困扰患者和临床医生的HNSCC停滞不前的治疗结果。
