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Head and Neck Cancer: Building the Evidence Base for Precision Oncology
Posted on by Dr. Francis Collins
Caption: Triple immunohistochemical stained oral squamous cell carcinoma: nuclei in brown, cytoplasm in red, and cytoplasmic membranes in blue green.
Credit: Alfredo A. Molinolo, Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, NIH
An exciting new era in cancer research is emerging, called precision oncology. It builds on decades of research establishing that cancers start with glitches in the genome, the cell’s instruction book. Researchers have now identified numerous ways that mutations in susceptible genes can drive the cancer process. Knowing where and how to look for them brings greater precision to diagnosing cancers and gives doctors key clues about which treatments might work and which ones won’t.
To build a firmer evidence base for precision oncology, more and more cancer genomes, from many different body sites, must be analyzed for clues about the drivers of the malignant process. That’s why it’s always exciting to see a new genomic analysis that adds substantially to our understanding of a common tumor. The latest to appear, published online at the journal Nature, comes from an NIH-supported study on the most common type of head and neck cancer, called squamous cell carcinoma. The technologically advanced analysis confirms that many previously suspected genes do indeed play a role in head and neck cancer. But that’s not all. The new data also identify several previously unknown subtypes of this cancer. The first descriptions of the abnormal molecular wiring in these subtypes are outlined, suggesting possible strategies to neutralize or destroy the cancer cells. That’s potentially good news to help guide and inform the treatment of the estimated 55,000 Americans who are diagnosed with a head and neck cancer each year.
