Biomarkers in Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: The Literature Review

Abstract

Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is the second most common cancer among head and neck cancers. Despite a lower incidence of laryngeal carcinoma, new diagnostic techniques, and more targeted therapies, the overall survival has not changed significantly in the last decades, leading to a negative prognosis in advanced stages. Recently, several studies have focused on the identification of biomarkers that may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of LSCC. Reviewing the literature on the main databases, this study aims to investigate the role of some biomarkers in LSCC that are correlated with oxidative stress and inflammation: heat shock proteins; metallothioneins; nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2; heme oxygenase; cyclooxygenase-2; and micro ribonucleic acids. This review shows that biomarker expression depends on the type, grade of differentiation, stage, and site of carcinoma. In addition, the role of these biomarkers in LSCC is still little-known and little-studied. However, the study of biomarker expression and the detection of a possible correlation with patients’ epidemiological, clinicopathological, and therapeutics data may lead to better awareness and knowledge of the tumor, to the identification of the best therapeutic strategy, and the most proper follow-up protocol tailored for each patient. In conclusion, the achievement of these goals may improve the prognosis of LSCC patients.

A Group of Highly Secretory miRNAs Correlates with Lymph Node Metastasis and Poor Prognosis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…Moreover, while we discovered several motifs associated with miRNA sorting into sEVs, experimental validation involving site mutation of the motifs needs to be conducted. The use of small extracellular microRNAs as biomarkers is challenged by issues such as specificity, sensitivity, lack of standardized protocols, and biological variability, all of which complicate their detection, quantification, and interpretation in disease diagnosis and monitoring [54]. Another limitation is that our in silico predictions of the target cell types for sEV miRNAs might not accurately reflect real-life in vivo conditions.…”

Tumor Neurobiology in the Pathogenesis and Therapy of Head and Neck Cancer

“…These elements of the TME include neural components, which are common because head and neck cancers, especially oral cancer, exhibit perineural invasion and intra-tumoral innervation to a greater extent than other cancers due to the highly innervated nature of the head and neck region. Recent review articles have summarized biomarkers and neural markers involved in perineural invasion, axonogenesis, and neural reprogramming (discussed in the following chapters), providing compelling evidence for nerve-tumor crosstalk in head and neck cancer [37,38]. Several preclinical studies have shown that the surgical or chemical ablation of nerve fibers can significantly affect the tumor growth in prostate cancer, gastric cancer, and pancreatic cancer [8,12,28].…”