Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide and comprises at least two forms with distinct etiology: human papillomavirus (HPV) positive and HPV -negative. In HNSCC, the standard-of-care treatment includes surgical resection of the tumor followed by radiotherapy, cisplatin/carboplatin-based chemotherapy, cetuximab, or a combination of these modalities. It was observed that acquired resistance towards these treatment modalities remains a major challenge for the treatment of HNSCC, contributing to disease relapse and poor prognosis of HNSCC patients. Patients with recurrent or metastatic disease have limited treatment options and poor 5-year survival rates. The presence of cancer stem cells or stem-like cells (CSCs) in the bulk of the tumor is considered one of the reasons associated with therapeutic resistance. CSCs exhibited enhanced tumorigenicity, and intrinsic drug resistance which subsequently implicated in treatment failures in many cancers including HNSCC. Therefore, there is an unmet and urgent need to identify molecular biomarkers associated with therapeutic resistance and delineate their potential molecular mechanisms.
In this research topic, we will address the molecular mechanisms associated with therapeutic resistance and the development of novel therapeutic strategies to overcome treatment resistance in HNSCC. Identifying mechanisms associated with therapy resistance will aid in developing novel targeted therapeutics that can be used to treat patients with HNSCC. This will improve the treatment efficacy and prognosis of HNSCC patients. Additionally, methodological innovations in the identification of novel molecular biomarkers including the development of humanized and patient-derived pre-clinical models to study the tumor microenvironment in the context of Head and neck cancer are also sought in the present research topic.
The research topic will cover but is not limited to:
• Cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with therapy resistance in HPV positive and negative HNSCC.
• Molecular biomarkers associated with therapeutic resistance and disease relapse.
• Novel therapeutic strategies to overcome treatment resistance.
• Stratification of patients based on characteristics of tumor microenvironment or specific cell populations to monitor treatment efficacy and prognosis.
• Establishment of humanized and patient-derived models to study disease etiology and development of novel treatment strategies
Please note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent clinical or patient cohort, or biological validation in vitro or in vivo, which are not based on public databases) are not suitable for publication in this journal.
Keywords:
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Therapy resistance, Molecular Biomarker, Cancer stem cells, Novel therapeutics.
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide and comprises at least two forms with distinct etiology: human papillomavirus (HPV) positive and HPV -negative. In HNSCC, the standard-of-care treatment includes surgical resection of the tumor followed by radiotherapy, cisplatin/carboplatin-based chemotherapy, cetuximab, or a combination of these modalities. It was observed that acquired resistance towards these treatment modalities remains a major challenge for the treatment of HNSCC, contributing to disease relapse and poor prognosis of HNSCC patients. Patients with recurrent or metastatic disease have limited treatment options and poor 5-year survival rates. The presence of cancer stem cells or stem-like cells (CSCs) in the bulk of the tumor is considered one of the reasons associated with therapeutic resistance. CSCs exhibited enhanced tumorigenicity, and intrinsic drug resistance which subsequently implicated in treatment failures in many cancers including HNSCC. Therefore, there is an unmet and urgent need to identify molecular biomarkers associated with therapeutic resistance and delineate their potential molecular mechanisms.
In this research topic, we will address the molecular mechanisms associated with therapeutic resistance and the development of novel therapeutic strategies to overcome treatment resistance in HNSCC. Identifying mechanisms associated with therapy resistance will aid in developing novel targeted therapeutics that can be used to treat patients with HNSCC. This will improve the treatment efficacy and prognosis of HNSCC patients. Additionally, methodological innovations in the identification of novel molecular biomarkers including the development of humanized and patient-derived pre-clinical models to study the tumor microenvironment in the context of Head and neck cancer are also sought in the present research topic.
The research topic will cover but is not limited to:
• Cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with therapy resistance in HPV positive and negative HNSCC.
• Molecular biomarkers associated with therapeutic resistance and disease relapse.
• Novel therapeutic strategies to overcome treatment resistance.
• Stratification of patients based on characteristics of tumor microenvironment or specific cell populations to monitor treatment efficacy and prognosis.
• Establishment of humanized and patient-derived models to study disease etiology and development of novel treatment strategies
Please note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent clinical or patient cohort, or biological validation in vitro or in vivo, which are not based on public databases) are not suitable for publication in this journal.
Keywords:
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Therapy resistance, Molecular Biomarker, Cancer stem cells, Novel therapeutics.
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.