Cancer is one of the diseases with the greatest impact on people’s health due to its high incidence, loss of affected organs, risk of recurrence and low survival rates. The estimate for 2018 was 18.1 million new cancer cases and 9.6 million deaths from disease worldwide (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) (Ferlay et al., 2019). In Head and neck cancer, for example, the high impact and mortality from oral cavity and lip and oropharynx are higher when compared to other anatomical sites of head and neck (such as salivary gland). Risk factors for the development of the disease are tobacco and alcohol, and HPV virus associated with oropharynx tumors has also been identified (Wight and Ogden, 1998; Dayyani et al., 2010). The current treatments for the different types of head and neck tumors are surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy, and immunological therapies such as Cetuximab (Matta and Ralhan, 2009). One of the clinical dilemmas is how to distinguish patients with tumors similar based on histopathological and clinical parameters once that they can have different outcomes and disease progression. So it is mandatory to identify and validate prognostic markers for clinical routine. The goal, therefore, is to obtain the molecular profile of each patient’s tumor so that together with the histopathological and clinical parameters, personalized medicine and therapy is possible. By identifying tumor markers and understanding how these molecules contribute to cancer, we can propose new combined antitumor strategies that target all malignant cells.
References:
DAYYANI, F. et al. Meta-analysis of the impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) on cancer risk and overall survival in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Head Neck Oncol, v. 2, p. 15, 2010. ISSN 1758-3284. Disponível em: < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20587061 >.
FERLAY, J. et al. Estimating the global cancer incidence and mortality in 2018: GLOBOCAN sources and methods. Int J Cancer, v. 144, n. 8, p. 1941-1953, 04 2019. ISSN 1097-0215. Disponível em: < https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30350310 >.
MATTA, A.; RALHAN, R. Overview of current and future biologically based targeted therapies in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Head Neck Oncol, v. 1, n. 1, p. 6, 2009. ISSN 1758-3284 (Electronic). Disponível em: < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=19284526 >.
WIGHT, A. J.; OGDEN, G. R. Possible mechanisms by which alcohol may influence the development of oral cancer–a review. Oral Oncol, v. 34, n. 6, p. 441-7, Nov 1998. Disponível em: < http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=9930353 >.