Expression of CD44, EGFR, p16, and their mutual combinations in patients with head and neck cancer: Impact on outcomes of intensity-modulated radiation therapy.
The objectives of the study are to identify and characterize two head and neck cancer cell lines with regard CD44<sup>high</sup>/CD133<sup>high</sup>/CD117<sup>high</sup> profile (CSCs) and CD44<sup>low</sup>/CD133<sup>low</sup>/CD117<sup>low</sup> profile (Non-CSCs); to investigate the influence of chemotherapy treatment in CSCs and compare with Non-CSCs; to evaluate CD44 and EGFR gene expression in CSCs.
Hyaluronan (HA), an important glycosaminoglycan component of the extracellular matrix (ECM), and its major cell surface receptor, CD44, have been suggested to be important cellular mediators influencing tumor progression and treatment resistance in head and neck cancer.
All of these events are critically important for the acquisition of cancer stem cell properties, including self-renewal, tumor cell invasion, and chemotherapy resistance in HA/CD44-activated head and neck cancer.
Overall, bioinformatic processing of large numbers of global gene expression analyses demonstrated elevated CD44 expression in head and neck cancer relative to other cancer types, and that the application of standard cell culture protocols might decrease CD44 expression.
This study investigates the clinical significance of CD44 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in the peripheral blood of patients with head and neck cancer.
Association of CD44 V3-containing isoforms with tumor cell growth, migration, matrix metalloproteinase expression, and lymph node metastasis in head and neck cancer.