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Variability of Genetic Alterations in Different Sites of Head and Neck Cancer
Author(s) -
Rodrigo Juan P.,
Suárez Carlos,
González Maria V.,
Lazo Pedro S.,
Ramos Sofía,
Coto Eliecer,
Alvarez Ignacio,
García Luis A.,
Martínez José A.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1097/00005537-200107000-00029
Subject(s) - larynx , loss of heterozygosity , head and neck cancer , hypopharyngeal cancer , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , biology , pathology , cancer , medicine , cancer research , gene , genetics , anatomy , allele
Objective Tumors arising from different sites of the head and neck area have different clinical behavior. However, most of the studies on genetic alterations in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas do not make a distinction between the sites within this area. The objective of this study is to compare the genetic alterations in three different sites of the head and neck (larynx, oropharynx, and hypopharynx). Study Design Prospective study. Methods Thirty‐eight laryngeal, 29 oropharyngeal, and 37 hypopharyngeal carcinomas were studied. DNA from tumor and healthy tissue was evaluated for amplification of the oncogenes at 11q13 region ( CCND1 , FGF3 , FGF4 and EMS1 ) and of the oncogenes MYC and ERBB1 ; for integration of the human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6b and 16; for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at p53 and NAT2 ; and for the cellular DNA content. Results FGF3 and FGF4 showed a significantly higher frequency of amplification in hypopharyngeal tumors ( P = .006 and P = .0002, respectively). CCND1 amplification had a nearly statistically significant ( P = .072) higher frequency of amplification in hypopharyngeal tumors. Aneuploid tumors were found in a significantly lower proportion in the larynx ( P = .03) compared with the other sites. For the other genetic alterations, no significant differences among the three sites were found. Conclusions These results suggest that cancers originating from different sites in the head and neck may have different tumor biology. Therefore, they should be considered as different entities.