Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Institute of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Curr Oncol. 2021 Jul 19;28(4):2763-2774. doi: 10.3390/curroncol28040241.
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are accountable for the progress of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This exploratory study evaluated the expression of molecular CSC markers in different tissues of HNSCC patients. Tissue specimens of primary tumor, lymph node metastases and macroscopically healthy mucosa of 12 consecutive HNSCC patients, that were treated with surgery and adjuvant radio(chemo)therapy upon indication, were collected. Samples were assessed for the expression of p16 as a surrogate for HPV-related disease and different molecular stem cell markers (ALDH1A1, BCL11B, BMI-1, and CD44). In the cohort, seven patients had HPV-related HNSCC; six thereof were oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. While expression of BMI-1 and BCL11B was significantly lower in healthy mucosa than both tumor and lymph node metastasis, there were no differences between tumor and lymph node metastasis. In the HPV-positive sub-cohort, these differences remained significant for BMI-1. However, no significant differences in these three tissues were found for ALDH1A1 and CD44. In conclusion, this exploratory study shows that CSC markers BMI-1 and BCL11B discriminate between healthy and cancerous tissue, whereas ALDH1A1 and CD44 were expressed to a comparable extent in healthy mucosa and cancerous tissues.
癌症干细胞（CSC）是导致头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）进展的原因。本探索性研究评估了分子 CSC 标志物在 HNSCC 患者不同组织中的表达。连续 12 例 HNSCC 患者的手术和辅助放化疗适应证的原发肿瘤、淋巴结转移和宏观健康黏膜的组织标本均被收集。评估了 p16 作为 HPV 相关疾病和不同分子干细胞标志物（ALDH1A1、BCL11B、BMI-1 和 CD44）的表达。在该队列中，7 例患者为 HPV 相关 HNSCC；其中 6 例为口咽鳞状细胞癌。BMI-1 和 BCL11B 的表达在健康黏膜中明显低于肿瘤和淋巴结转移，而肿瘤和淋巴结转移之间无差异。在 HPV 阳性亚组中，BMI-1 的这些差异仍然显著。然而，ALDH1A1 和 CD44 在这三种组织中的表达没有显著差异。总之，这项探索性研究表明，CSC 标志物 BMI-1 和 BCL11B 可区分健康组织和癌组织，而 ALDH1A1 和 CD44 在健康黏膜和癌组织中的表达程度相当。
