The Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transcription Factor Slug Predicts Survival Benefit of Up-Front Surgery in Head and Neck Cancer.

ABSTRACT: EMT promotes radio- and chemotherapy resistance in HNSCC in vitro. As EMT has been correlated to the transcription factor Slug in tumor specimens from HNSCC patients, we assessed whether Slug overexpression predicts radio- and chemotherapy resistance and favors upfront surgery in HNSCC patients. Slug expression was determined by IHC scoring in tumor specimens from patients with incident HNSCC. Patients were treated with either definitive radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy (primary RT/CRT) or upfront surgery with or without postoperative RT or CRT (upfront surgery/PORT). Treatment failure rates and overall survival (OS) were compared between RT/CRT and upfront surgery/PORT in Slug-positive and Slug-negative patients. Slug IHC was positive in 91/354 HNSCC patients. Primary RT/CRT showed infer

SUBMITTER: Riechelmann H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7918715 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature