Department of Oral Bioscience, Tokushima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima 770-8504, Japan.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Nankoku, Kochi 783-8505, Japan.
J Oral Biosci. 2022 Jun;64(2):176-182. doi: 10.1016/j.job.2022.02.004. Epub 2022 Feb 15.
It is well-established that cervical lymph node metastasis is the most important prognostic factor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Cancer cells invade the underlying stroma during metastasis by breaching the basement membrane.
The ability to metastasize is a key hallmark of cancer progression and this characteristic can be attained by undergoing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT is a biological process in which epithelial cells lose their epithelial features and gain mesenchymal features. Recent evidence reports the intermediate state in the induction of EMT and partial-EMT. Notably, the partial-EMT phenotype is more aggressive than the complete EMT phenotype. However, the role of partial-EMT is not fully understood.
In this review, we highlight the features of partial-EMT in HNSCC by summarizing previous studies. Moreover, we discuss the therapeutic potential for targeting partial-EMT.
众所周知，颈部淋巴结转移是头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）最重要的预后因素。癌细胞在转移过程中通过破坏基底膜侵犯下方的基质。
转移能力是癌症进展的关键标志，这一特征可通过上皮-间充质转化（EMT）获得。EMT 是上皮细胞失去上皮特征并获得间充质特征的生物学过程。最近的证据报告了 EMT 诱导和部分 EMT 的中间状态。值得注意的是，部分 EMT 表型比完全 EMT 表型更具侵袭性。然而，部分 EMT 的作用尚未完全了解。
在这篇综述中，我们通过总结以前的研究，强调了 HNSCC 中部分 EMT 的特征。此外，我们讨论了针对部分 EMT 的治疗潜力。
