FGFR signaling regulates resistance of head and neck cancer stem cells to cisplatin.

ABSTRACT: Patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have poor prognosis with less than 1-year median survival. Platinum-based chemotherapy remains the first-line treatment for HNSCC. The cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis postulates that tumors are maintained by a self-renewing CSC population that is also capable of differentiating into non-self renewing cell populations that constitute the bulk of the tumor. A small population of CSC exists within HNSCC that are relatively resistant to chemotherapy and clinically predicted to contribute to tumor recurrence. These head and neck CSCs (HNCSC) are identified by high cell-surface expression of CD44 and high intracellular activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and termed ALDH^highCD44^high.

SUBMITTER: McDermott SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5982758 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature