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World J Med Genet. Nov 27, 2013; 3(4): 22-33
Published online Nov 27, 2013. doi: 10.5496/wjmg.v3.i4.22
Published online Nov 27, 2013. doi: 10.5496/wjmg.v3.i4.22
Genetic alterations in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: The next-gen sequencing era
Thien Khanh Nguyen, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore 169857, Singapore
N Gopalakrishna Iyer, Department of Surgical Oncology, Principal Investigator, Cancer Therapeutics Research Laboratory, National Cancer Centre, Singapore 169610, Singapore
Author contributions: Nguyen TK and Iyer NG solely contributed to this paper.
Correspondence to: N Gopalakrishna Iyer, MBBS (Hons) (Singapore), PhD (Cantab), FRCS (Gen), FAMS, Senior Consultant, Head and Neck Surgeon and Director of Research, Department of Surgical Oncology, Principal Investigator, Cancer Therapeutics Research Laboratory, National Cancer Centre, 11 Hospital Dr, Singapore 169610, Singapore. gopaliyer@nccs.com.sg
Telephone: +65-6426-8000 Fax: +65-6225-6283
Received: June 28, 2013
Revised: October 28, 2013
Accepted: November 7, 2013
Published online: November 27, 2013
Revised: October 28, 2013
Accepted: November 7, 2013
Published online: November 27, 2013
Core Tip
Core tip: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer in the world with approximately 650000 new cases diagnosed annually. Understanding the molecular pathways that are implicated in the pathogenesis of HNSCC enable clinicians to be able to classify and to prognosticate the disease based on subtypes, such as human papilloma virus (HPV)-positive vs HPV-negative HNSCC. More importantly, patients may be placed on de escalated or more aggressive therapies depend on their tumor subtypes and prognosis. This paper aims to review our current knowledge of the most common genetic alterations in HNSCC.