Serum Proteome Analysis of Oral Cancer Metastasis

描述（由申请人提供）：肿瘤转移是癌症患者（包括口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）患者）死亡的主要原因。然而，肿瘤转移的分子和细胞机制仍然是难以捉摸的。识别与转移过程相关的分子标志物将有助于理解生物学机制，并促进OSCC患者治疗干预的发展。该提案旨在验证血清蛋白质组学标记物可用于将转移性口腔癌与非转移性口腔癌分层的假设。有两个具体的目标来检验假设。目的1是利用定量蛋白质组学平台iTRAQ和2-D LC-MS/MS，利用与舌鳞癌淋巴结转移相关的血清特征蛋白。目的二是对目的一中发现的候选标志物进行AQUA验证，建立舌鳞癌淋巴结转移的多标志物预测模型。该提案的总体目标是发现血清蛋白质组学标记物，然后将蛋白质组学发现转化为预测模型，可以预测原发性舌癌的淋巴结转移潜力，从而改善口腔舌癌管理中的临床治疗决策。本研究将为舌癌淋巴结转移的快速筛查和评估提供血清蛋白标志物，提高舌癌患者的临床治疗水平。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Tumor metastasis is the dominant cause of death in cancer patients, including oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying tumor metastasis are still elusive. The identification of molecular markers associated with the metastatic process would help understand biological mechanisms and facilitate the development of therapeutic interventions for OSCC patients. This proposal aims to test the hypothesis that serum proteomic markers can be used to stratify metastatic from non-metastatic oral cancers. Two specific Aims are in place to test the hypothesis. Aim 1 is to engage a quantitative proteomics platform, iTRAQ and 2-D LC-MS/MS, to harness serum signature proteins associated with lymph node metastasis of tongue SCC. Aim 2 is to conduct AQUA validation of the candidate markers discovered in Aim 1 and build multi-marker prediction models for lymph node metastasis of tongue SCC. The overarching goal of the proposal is to discover serum proteomic markers and then translate the proteomic discoveries into prediction models that can forecast lymph node metastatic potential of primary tongue cancer, and thus improve clinical treatment decisions in the management of oral tongue cancer. This proposal will discover serum protein biomarkers for fast screening and assessment of lymph node metastasis of tongue cancer and improve clinical treatment of oral tongue cancer patients.