Main description:

Squamous cell cancers of the head and neck (SCCHN), also known as head and neck cancers (HNC) encompass malignancies of the oral cavity, larynx, nasopharynx and pharynx, and are diagnosed in over 500,000 patients worldwide each year, accounting for 5% of all malignancies. In the past several years, there have been significant developments in understanding of HNC. It is now recognized that although alcohol and tobacco use has represented the likely predominant cause of SCCHN, the incidence of a second class of SCCHN related to oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is increasing, with a four-fold increase in the past 2 decades, and now thought to represent up to 30% of cases. The first effective target for SCCHN, the EGFR-targeting antibody cetuximab, was approved as recently as in 2006; since then, a growing body of research has identified additional signaling pathways as important in disease pathogenesis, and in resistance to treatment. Proteins such as c-Met, Src, and HER2 are emerging as new therapeutic targets, with a considerable ferment in the clinical trial community. As a capstone of research progress, 2011 marked the first reports of high throughput sequencing of SCCHN tumors, with these efforts identifying unexpected players such as Notch as frequent subject of mutation, spawning new hypotheses for future research. This book will be of interest to researchers who are interested in better understanding the biology of head and neck cancers, with the goals of better designing therapies, identifying risk factors, or investigating the molecular basis of the disease.

Feature:

Summarize the unique pathobiology of head and neck cancers

Addresses signaling pathways and individual proteins that are important in causing or supporting the aggressive nature of head and neck cancer

Covers high throughput studies addressing chromosomal, mutational, and transcriptional changes that characterize SCCHN

Back cover:

Head and neck cancers, involving sites from the nasopharynx to the subglottic larynx, are frequently devastating cancers that afflict patients around the world. These cancers are frequently locally advanced prior to detection, and require multimodality therapy that is associated with high morbidity. As this book addresses this difficult disease, it accomplishes three main goals.

First, it introduces the etiology and subclasses of squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHNs), and how these factors affect prognosis. Although habitual exposures to tobacco, alcohol, and other agents have historically been the main causes of SCCHN, a rising proportion of oropharynx cancers arise from transforming human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. These two broad classes of SCCHN have significant differences in disease profile and response to treatment, as we discuss.

Second, it summarizes the current state of understanding of the genetic, epigenetic and protein expression changes associated with the various classes of SCCHN. In the past decade, disease pathogenesis of SCCHN has been appreciated to involve deregulation of multiple tumor pathways, including the receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) EGFR, ERBB2, ERBB3, c-MET, and IGF1R; transforming growth factor β (TGFβ); Notch; cytoplasmic signaling proteins including PTEN, PI3K, JAK/STAT, and Wnt-responsive β-catenin; mutation control systems, including p53 and the DNA damage repair (DDR) machinery; and hypoxic response. The specific understanding of the action of these proteins in SCCHN is presented here.

Finally, this book defines potential therapeutic targets for improved management of the disease in the future, discussing prospects for improved prediction of prognosis.

Contents:

Chapter 1: Overview: The Pathobiology of Head and Neck Cancer

Chapter 2: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck cancer and the Wnt signaling pathway…..Theodoros Rampias and Amanda Psyrri

Chapter 3: EGFR Inhibitors as Therapeutic Agents in Head and Neck Cancer…..Hanqing Liu, Jennifer R. Cracchiolo, Tim N. Beck, Ilya G. Serebriiskii, and Erica A. Golemis

Chapter 4: The Role of HGF/c-MET in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma…..Tanguy Y. Seiwert, Tim N. Beck and Ravi Salgia
Chapter 5: Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 Receptors in Head and Neck Cancer…..Steven A. Rosenzweig and Casey O. Holmes

Chapter 6: The PI3K Signaling Pathway in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma……Jason D. Howard and Christine H. Chung

Chapter 7: Jak/STAT Signaling in HNC…..Bhavana S. Vangara and Jennifer R. Grandis

Chapter 8: TGFβ regulates EMT in head and neck cancer…..Jill M. Neiman and Xiao-Jing Wang

Chapter 9: p53 in Head and Neck Cancer…..Jong-Lyel Roh and Wayne M. Koch

Chapter 10: DNA damage proteins and response to therapy in head and neck cancer…..Ranee Mehra and Ilya G. Serebriiskii

Chapter 11: Hypoxia and radioresistance in head and neck cancer…..Peiwen Kuo and Quynh-Thu Le

Chapter 12: The Wnt -catenin Signaling Circuitry in Head and Neck Cancer…..Rogerio M. Castilho and J. Silvio Gutkind

Chapter 13: Sequencing HNC: Emergence of Notch Signaling……Curtis R. Pickering, Thomas J. Ow, Jeffrey N. Myers

Chapter 14: Gene Expression in HNC…..Michael F Ochs and Joseph A Califano

Chapter 15: Epidemiology of HPV in Head and Neck Cancer; variant strains, discrete protein function…..Camille C.R. Ragin, Jeffrey C. Liu

Chapter 16: Projections: Novel Therapies for HPV-Negative Cancers of the Head and Neck…..Barbara Burtness