Sexual and relationship health among survivors of oropharyngeal or oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma

Head and neck cancer survivorship consensus statement from the American Head and Neck Society

OBJECTIVES

To provide a consensus statement describing best practices and evidence regarding head and neck cancer survivorship.

METHODS

Key topics regarding head and neck cancer survivorship were identified by the multidisciplinary membership of the American Head and Neck Society Survivorship, Supportive Care & Rehabilitation Service. Guidelines were generated by combining expert opinion and a review of the literature and categorized by level of evidence.

RESULTS

Several areas regarding survivorship including dysphonia, dysphagia, fatigue, chronic pain, intimacy, the ability to return to work, financial toxicity, lymphedema, psycho-oncology, physical activity, and substance abuse were identified and discussed. Additionally, the group identified and described the role of key clinicians in survivorship including surgical, medical and radiation oncologists; dentists; primary care physicians; psychotherapists; as well as physical, occupational, speech, and respiratory therapists.

CONCLUSION

Head and neck cancer survivorship is complex and requires a multidisciplinary approach centered around patients and their caregivers. As survival related to head and neck cancer treatment improves, addressing post-treatment concerns appropriately is critically important to our patient's quality of life. There continues to be a need to define effective and efficient programs that can coordinate this multidisciplinary effort toward survivorship.

MicroRNA-363-3p inhibits tumor cell proliferation and invasion in oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines by targeting SSFA2

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the expression levels of microRNA (miR)-363-3p and its underlying physiological function in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). miR-363-3p expression levels were measured in OSCC cell lines using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. The role of miR-363-3p in OSCC cells was examined using gain-of-function assays in vitro. Cell proliferation was assessed using Cell Counting Kit-8, 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine assays and flow cytometry. Cell migration and invasion were evaluated in wound-healing and Transwell Matrigel assays. In addition, bioinformatics analysis predicted binding sites of miR-363-3p on sperm-specific antigen 2 (SSFA2). Luciferase reporter and RNA pull-down assays were conducted to test whether miR-363-3p interacted with SSFA2. miR-363-3p expression was downregulated in OSCC cell lines compared with that in the normal epithelial cell line (NHOK). Additionally, miR-363-3p overexpression suppressed OSCC cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. SSFA2 was verified as a direct target of miR-363-3p, and SSFA2 overexpression partially counteracted the inhibitory effects of miR-363-3p on cell proliferation, migration and invasion in OSCC cell lines. Thus, miR-363-3p may serve as a tumor suppressor via targeting SSFA2 and may represent a potential therapeutic target for OSCC.

Anlotinib as a promising inhibitor on tumor growth of oral squamous cell carcinoma through cell apoptosis and mitotic catastrophe

Background

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has been one of the most malignant cancers in head and neck region. Anlotinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting several receptors such as vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) and c-Kit. Here we investigated whether Anlotinib have any antitumor effect on oral cancer and tried to explore and explain the possible mechanism.

Methods

Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and the Gene Expression Omnibus and Gene Expression Omnibus database was collected to analyze the relationship between the expression of vascular epithelial growth factor receptor 2 and the overall survival rate of OSCC. Oral cancer cell lines Cal-27 and SCC-25 were cultured to conduct all the experiments. In vitro experiments such as CCK-8, colony formation, cell cycle assay and cell apoptosis assay were conducted to detect cell proliferation ability and the change of cell phase and apoptosis. Proteins concerning cell cycle and cell apoptosis were visualized via western blot. α-Tubulin were visualized via immunofluorescence to detect cells undergoing mitotic catastrophe.

Results

Higher expression of VEGFR-2 was significantly related to poorer prognosis. Experiment in vitro demonstrated that cell proliferation was significantly inhibited(p < 0.05) after Anlotinib administration and G2/M arrest and apoptosis were both detected in both cell lines. Cycle-related proteins promoting cell cycle progression and proteins related to cell survival were downregulated in Anlotinib group compared to the control group. Cell-death-related biomarker and phosphorylated histone 3 were upregulated in expression in Anlotinib group. Abnormal spindle apparatus was observed in cells undergoing mitotic catastrophe.

Conclusions

Anlotinib could exert an antitumor effect on oral cancer cell lines via apoptotic pathway and mitotic catastrophe pattern, presenting a promising potential therapy for patients with OSCC.