口腔鳞状上皮细胞癌淋巴结转移相关特异性生物标志物及预测性模式图的研究

口腔癌以鳞状上皮细胞癌最多见，是危害人类健康的常见恶性肿瘤之一。口腔癌淋巴结转移是影响预后的主要因素，但目前的诊断技术，对淋巴结微小转移灶或肿瘤原发灶固有的淋巴结转移潜能的大小很难做出正确判断。利用淋巴结转移相关特异性生物标志物既可早期诊断淋巴结微小转移灶也可评估原发灶生物学特性及淋巴结转移潜能大小。这对临床医师选择正确的治疗方案及提高疗效有重要意义。在本项研究中，我们为了提高所筛选基因组的特异性，筛选过程要联合应用3个公用基因表达数据库。其次，利用口腔癌细胞株，口腔癌动物模型及5年以上随访的300例口腔癌患者的组织，进一步阐明所筛选的候选生物标志物在口腔癌淋巴结转移中的重要作用。最后，综合这些生物标志物在口腔癌患者组织中的表达及患者的临床病理特征，新建有效的口腔癌淋巴结转移相关预测性模式图。本项目为口腔癌淋巴结转移的早期诊断及治疗提供有效的分子生物学靶标及客观的生物学检测方法。

Oral cancer is a common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and squamous cell carcinoma is the most prevalent histological type of oral cancer. Lymph node（LN）metastasis is an important prognostic factor in oral squamous cell carcinoma（OSCC), but current diagnostic system is not suitable for determining the micro-metastatic lesions and metastatic potential of primary tumors. Thus, it is necessary to identify sensitive diagnostic biomarkers for LN metastasis of OSCC to allow more accurate diagnosis and to help clinicians offer appropriate treatments. To identify more reliable candidate biomarkers, we will select candidate gene sets using three microarray datasets obtained from public database, in this study. We will further investigate the biological functions and related signaling pathways of the candidate biomarkers that are involved in the LN metastasis of OSCC using oral cancer cell lines, xenograft mouse models, and OSCC tissues samples obtained from 300 OSCC patients with more than 5-year follow-up period. Finally, we will construct a predictive nomogram based on the expression data of the selected biomarkers and clinicopathological characteristics of 300 OSCC patients. All of these will provide an insight into the molecular mechanism underlying LN metastasis of OSCC and facilitate development of new biological diagnostic tools.