Effect of radiotherapy on expression of hyaluronan and EGFR and presence of mast cells in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

High prevalence of CD44 and its ligand low molecular weight hyaluronan in plasma of HNSCC patients: clinical significance

BACKGROUND

This study aims to evaluate the role of cancer stem cell marker, CD44, and its ligand HA as potential molecular biomarker for early detection of HNSCC.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The expression profile (mRNA/Protein) of CD44 variants were analysed in primary HNSCC lesions and plasma of the patients. Then, prevalence of HA variants was analysed in plasma of the patients. The mRNA expression of CD44 variants, CD44S and CD44v3, were significantly high in both early (stage I/II) and late (stage III/IV) invasive lesions, with predominant expression of CD44v3 in the late-stage lesions. In plasma of HNSCC patients, increased levels of SolCD44, CD44-ICD and unique 62 KD CD44 variants with respect to standard CD44S were seen, in comparison to their prevalence in plasma of normal individuals. The abundance of CD44-ICD and 62 KD variants were significantly high in plasma of late stage HNSCC patients. Interestingly, significantly high level of low molecular weight HA(LMW HA) with respect to high molecular weight HA(HMW HA) was seen in plasma of HNSCC patients irrespective of clinical stages. On the contrary, high HMW HA level in plasma of normal individuals was seen. The high level of LMW HA in plasma of HNSCC patients might be due to combinatorial effect of increased mRNA expression of HA synthesizing enzyme HAS1/2/3 and HA degrading enzyme HYAL1/2, as seen in the primary HNSCC samples.

CONCLUSION

Thus, our data revealed the importance of specific CD44 and HA variants in plasma of HNSCC patients during its development as potential non-invasive molecular biomarker of the disease.

MTDH enhances radiosensitivity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by promoting ferroptosis based on a prognostic signature

Ionizing radiation (IR) induces ferroptosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). But, it remains unclear whether ferroptosis affects the prognosis of HNSCC patients after receiving radiotherapy. This study aims to develop a ferroptosis signature to predict the radiosensitivity and prognosis of HNSCC. Ferroptosis-related genes, clinical data and RNA expression profiles were obtained from the FerrDb database, The Cancer Genome Atlas and GEO database. Prognostic genes were identified by random survival forest, univariate Cox regression, Kaplan-Meier and ROC analyses. Principal component analysis, multivariate Cox regression, nomogram and DCA analyses were conducted to estimate its predictive ability. Functional enrichment and immune-related analyses were performed to explore potential biological mechanisms and tumor immune microenvironment. The effect of the hub gene on ferroptosis and radiosensitivity was verified using flow cytometry, quantitative real-time PCR and clonogenic survival assay. We constructed a ferroptosis-related signature, including IL6, NCF2, metadherin (MTDH) and CBS. We classified patients into high-risk (HRisk) and low-risk groups according to the risk scores. The risk score was confirmed to be an independent predictor for overall survival (OS). Combining the clinical stage with the risk score, we established a predictive nomogram for OS. Furthermore, pathways related to tumorigenesis and tumor immune suppression were mainly enriched in HRisk. MTDH was verified to have a potent effect on IR-induced ferroptosis and consequently promoted radiosensitivity. We constructed a ferroptosis-related signature to predict radiosensitivity and OS in HNSCC patients. MTDH was identified as a promising therapeutic target in radioresistant HNSCC patients.

Immunohistochemical analysis of EGFR and hyaluronan in tongue cancer and the development of regional recurrence in patients initially diagnosed N0

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether the extent of expression of hyaluronan (HA) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in squamous cell carcinoma of the mobile tongue can predict the risk of cervical metastasis and survival.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective histopathologic study.

METHODS

Surgical specimens from 64 patients who had undergone surgery for squamous cell carcinoma of the mobile tongue were assessed using immunohistochemistry to investigate the expression of HA and EGFR in the primary tumours, and the data were then correlated to cervical metastasis and survival.

RESULTS

There was a significant correlation between the intensity of HA staining and patient survival (p .024), and a weak correlation between the staining proportion of EGFR and the risk for regional recurrence (AUC 66).

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicates that immunoscoring using HA could be used to provide prognostic tools for tongue cancer, and that it might be of interest to study the prognostic properties of EGFR further concerning the risk for regional recurrence after the primary treatment.

Evaluation of the Cytotoxic Activity of Crocin and Safranal, Constituents of Saffron, in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (KB Cell Line)

Crocin and safranal are active ingredients in the saffron. Some studies have demonstrated antitumor activities of saffron ingredients. The aim of this study was to evaluate cytotoxic effects of crocin and safranal in oral squamous cell carcinoma (KB cells) and NIH 3T3 cell line as nonmalignant cells. The cells were incubated with crocin and safranal at 37°C for 24, 48, and 72 h, and cell viability was quantitated by MTT assay. Apoptotic cells, cell cycle distribution, and sub-G1 fraction were determined using propidium iodide staining of DNA fragmentation by flow cytometry. Crocin (0.05-4 mM) and safranal (0.2-3.2 mM) significantly inhibited the growth of KB cells (the inhibitory growth effects of all concentrations for both were >50% after 72 h), while they had less inhibitory effects on NIH 3T3 cells viability. The IC₅₀ values of crocin and safranal against NIH 3T3 cells after 72 h were determined as 2.8 and 0.3 mM, respectively. Crocin and safranal induced a sub-G1 peak in the flow cytometry histogram of treated cells compared to control cells indicating that apoptotic cell death is involved in the toxicity of crocin and safranal. Apoptotic effects of crocin and safranal in tumor cells were more than normal cells. Neither crocin nor safranal affected the cell cycle progression. Crocin and safranal exerted apoptotic effects in KB cell line.

Synergistic effect of targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor and hyaluronan synthesis in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Worldwide, oesophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer and has a very poor survival rate. In order to identify new tolerable treatment options for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), erlotinib was tested with moderate efficacy in phase I and II studies. As 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU), an hyaluronan (HA) synthesis inhibitor showed anti-cancer effects in vitro, and in ESCC xenograft tumours, we investigated whether the anti-cancer effects of erlotinib could be augmented by combining it with 4-MU.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

ESCC cell lines were treated with erlotinib or gefitinib (1 μmol·L^-1 ) and 4-MU (300 μmol·L^-1 ), and the cell count, cell cycle progression and migration were determined as compared to the single agents and the solvent-control.

KEY RESULTS

The combination of erlotinib and 4-MU synergistically inhibited the proliferation of ESCC cell lines. Furthermore, the migration speed of ESCC cell line KYSE-410 in gap closure assays was significantly reduced by the combination of erlotinib and 4-MU. Decreased ERK phosphorylation could explain the anti-proliferative and anti-migratory effects in the combined treatment group. Finally, the combination was additionally able to decrease the growth of multicellular tumour spheroids, a three-dimensional cell culture model that was associated with sustained inhibition of ERK1/2 phosphorylation.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The combination of 4-MU and erlotinib showed promising anti-cancer efficacies in the ESCC cell lines.