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A gene expression profile for non‐smoking and non‐drinking patients with head and neck cancer
Author(s) -
Farshadpour F,
Roepman P,
Hordijk GJ,
Koole R,
Slootweg PJ
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
oral diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.953
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1601-0825
pISSN - 1354-523X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1601-0825.2011.01861.x
Subject(s) - medicine , head and neck cancer , gene , microarray , cancer , oncology , oral cavity , gene expression , biology , genetics , dentistry
Oral Diseases (2012) 18 , 178–183 Objective: A small subset of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma are non‐smoking and non‐drinking and have distinct clinical characteristics. We aimed to identify a possible different genetic profile for these patients when compared with their smoking and drinking counterparts. Materials and Methods: The gene expression data previously detected from primary tumors located in the oral cavity and oropharynx, using DNA microarray was analyzed for their differential expression between non‐smoking and non‐drinking patients ( n = 15) and smoking and drinking patients ( n = 89). Student’s T ‐test ( P < 0.05) and 10‐fold cross‐validation procedure (100 times repeated) were performed to determine differentially expressed genes. Results: Non‐smoking and non‐drinking patients were older, mostly female and had oral cavity‐localized tumors, whereas smoking and drinking patients were younger male patients with 81% oral cavity and 19% oropharynx tumors. A set of 49 differentially expressed genes were detected. Among others, seven genes related to interferon‐γ were upregulated and two genes linked to NFKB pathway were downregulated. Conclusions: Differentially expressed genes in non‐smoking and non‐drinking patients possibly indicate the presence of a different cellular response to carcinogenic events in these patients. Further studies are warranted to validate this gene set and explore possible therapeutic implications to improve prognosis for these patients.