Therefore, we hypothesize that p27T109G polymorphism individually or in combination with p21 (C98A and C70T) polymorphisms modifies risk of second primary malignancy (SPM) in patients with index squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (SCCHN).
The treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck cell lines with erlotinib time-dependently increased the expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins p21 and p27 and apoptosis regulatory protein Bim.
Overexpression of p53 markedly downregulated the transcription of COX-2, but the overexpression of p27 did not affect COX-2 levels in HNSCC cell lines.
Our findings suggest that the p27 109GG variant genotype may not play a major role in the etiology of SCCHN but may be associated with an increased risk in at-risk subgroups or subsets of SCCHN, particularly oral cavity cancer and possibly tumor progression.