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Can biomarkers play a role in the decision about treatment of the clinically negative neck in patients with head and neck cancer?
Author(s) -
Takes Robert P.,
Rinaldo Alessandra,
Pablo Rodrigo Juan,
Devaney Kenneth O.,
Fagan Johannes J.,
Ferlito Alfio
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.20759
Subject(s) - medicine , head and neck cancer , head and neck , metastasis , squamous cell cancer , oncology , cancer , surgery
For most patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer, a treatment decision concerning the neck is required. Since detection of small metastases in lymph nodes is difficult, many of the patients with no detectable metastases receive elective treatment of the neck. Additional information on the metastatic potential of the primary tumor before treatment may be useful to reduce the number of these elective procedures. Biomarkers may supply such information. Molecules involved in several pathways have been studied, but the complexity of the metastatic process makes it unlikely that a single marker for metastasis can de identified. Techniques allowing the study of many factors simultaneously seem to be the most promising ones. In recent years, microarray expression profiling and comparative genomic hybridization studies have yielded interesting results. If these results can be confirmed in larger studies, they may play a role in future clinical decision making on treatment of the clinically N0 neck. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2008