Improving Survival in Oral Cancer by Disruption of Tumor Progression

摘要/项目总结 头颈癌（HNC）的发展和扩散需要侵袭，但不幸的是， 没有有效的针对入侵的战略。这一知识差距是由于在查明和 了解控制入侵的潜在机制。虽然在建立一个 HNC细胞中上皮细胞向间质细胞的转化使它们能够扩散并对 治疗，关键的机制环节是未知的。目前还不清楚哪些肿瘤会扩散并成为 抵抗治疗。鉴于HNC患者的生存率持续低下，该项目将解决 以下问题：1）鼓励HNC传播的机制是什么; 2）如何保护HNC 辐射和谁有产生耐药性的风险; 3）HNC如何复发。这项工作将提供 新的机制为基础的治疗策略，以提高HNC患者的生存率的基础。

ABSTRACT/ PROJECT SUMMARY Invasion is required for development and spread of head and neck cancer (HNC) but unfortunately there are no strategies that effectively target invasion. This knowledge gap is due to limited progress in identifying and understanding the underlying mechanisms that control invasion. While progress has been made in establishing that epithelial to mesenchymal transition in HNC cells allows them to spread and become resistant to treatment, critical mechanistic links are unknown. It is also unclear which tumors will spread and become resistant to treatment. Given the continued poor survival of patients with HNC, this project will address the following questions: 1) what are the mechanisms that encourage HNC to spread; 2) how is HNC protected from radiation and who is at risk for developing resistance; and 3) how does HNC recur. This work will provide the foundation for novel mechanism-based treatment strategies to improve the survival of patients with HNC.