KEAP1/NRF2 Mutations in Stem Cells Define an Aggressive Subset of Head and Neck Cancer Patients Who Have a Poor Prognosis, Lung Metastasis, and Therapeutic Failure


A group of researchers from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has observed that Keap1–Nrf2 alterations play significant roles in chemotherapeutic resistance particularly cisplatin resistance in HNSCC. Surprisingly, patients whose tumors carried Keap1/Nrf2 mutations in their head and neck cancer stem cells (HN-CSCs) had significantly shorter progression-free survival, overall survival, and time of treatment failure than their non-HN-CSC counterparts. These associations were partly driven by HN-CSCs, in which Keap1/Nrf2 mutations were overrepresented in fast progressors and associated with an increased risk of disease progression. Our findings suggest that molecular genotyping of HN-CSCs may facilitate personalized treatment strategies and assist in identifying patients who are likely to benefit from chemotherapy.

Read the whole article: https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15205006

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