Abstract
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the 6th most common cancer worldwide. Despite advances in diagnostic and treatment modalities, overall survival has not significantly changed over the last 30-years. Better understanding of the molecular pathophysiology of HNSCC may allow the introduction of novel diagnostic and therapeutic modalities that could impact survival. At the cellular level, cancer stem cells represent the mechanism for cancer tumorigenesis, metastasis and treatment failure. Head and neck cancer stem cells are a subpopulation of cancer cells with the unique ability for tumorigenesis, self renewal and the ability to recapitulate the heterogeneity of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Head and neck cancer stem cells have been shown to have a higher capacity for tumorigenesis and have greater metastatic potential in-vitro and in-vivo. In addition their slow growth and ability to survive adverse conditions makes them a great candidate as mediators of treatment resistance and cancer recurrence. Better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of head and neck cancer stem cells may allow more targeted therapies and improved survival.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Al-Hajj M, Wicha MS, Benito-Hernandez A, Morrison SJ, Clarke MF (2003) Prospective identification of tumorigenic breast cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100:3983–3988
Balic M, Lin H, Young L, Hawes D, Giuliano A, McNamara G, Datar RH, Cote RJ (2006) Most early disseminated cancer cells detected in bone marrow of breast cancer patients have a putative breast cancer stem cell phenotype. Clin Cancer Res 12:5615–5621
Bao S, Wu Q, McLendon RE, Hao Y, Shi Q, Hjelmeland AB, Dewhirst MW, Bigner DD, Rich JN (2006) Glioma stem cells promote radioresistance by preferential activation of the DNA damage response. Nature 444:756–760
Bonnet D, Dick JE (1997) Human acute myeloid leukemia is organized as a hierarchy that originates from a primitive hematopoietic cell. Nat Med 3:730–737
Brabletz T, Jung A, Spaderna S, Hlubek F, Kirchner T (2005) Opinion: migrating cancer stem cells – an integrated concept of malignant tumour progression. Nat Rev Cancer 9:744–749
Charafe-Jauffret E, Ginestier C, Iovino F, Tarpin C, Diebel M, Esterni B, Houvenaeghel G, Extra JM, Bertucci F, Jacquemier J, Xerri L, Dontu G, Stassi G, Xiao Y, Barsky SH, Birnbaum D, Viens P, Wicha MS (2010) Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1-positive cancer stem cells mediate metastasis and poor clinical outcome in inflammatory breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res 16:45–55
Chen YC, Chen YW, Hsu HS, Tseng LM, Huang PI, Lu KH, Chen DT, Tai LK, Yung MC, Chang SC, Ku HH, Chiou SH, Lo WL (2009) Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 is a putative marker for cancer stem cells in head and neck squamous cancer. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 385(3):307–313
Chen C, Wei Y, Hummel M, Hoffmann TK, Gross M, Kaufmann AM, Albers AE (2011) Evidence for epithelial-mesenchymal transition in cancer stem cells of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. PLoS One 6(1):e16466
Clarke MF, Dick JE, Dirks PB, Eaves CJ, Jamieson CH, Jones DL, Visvader J, Weissman IL, Wahl GM (2006) Cancer stem cells—perspectives on current status and future directions: AACR workshop on cancer stem cells. Cancer Res 66:9339–9344
Clay MR, Tabor M, Owen JH, Carey TE, Bradford CR, Wolf GT, Wicha MS, Prince ME (2010) Single-marker identification of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cancer stem cells with aldehyde dehydrogenase. Head Neck 32:1195–1201
Davis SJ, Divi V, Owen JH, Bradford CR, Carey TE, Papagerakis S, Prince ME (2010) Metastatic potential of cancer stem cells in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 136(12):1260–1266
Faber A, Barth C, Hörmann K, Kassner S, Schultz JD, Sommer U, Stern-Straeter J, Thorn C, Goessler UR (2011) CD44 as a stem cell marker in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Oncol Rep 26(2):321–326
Ginestier C, Hur MH, Charafe-Jauffret E, Monville F, Dutcher J, Brown M, Jacquemier J, Viens P, Kleer CG, Liu S, Schott A, Hayes D, Birnbaum D, Wicha MS, Dontu G (2007) ALDH1 is a marker of normal and malignant human mammary stem cells and a predictor of poor clinical outcome. Cell Stem Cell 1(5):555–567
Hermann PC, Huber SL, Herrler T, Aicher A, Ellwart JW, Guba M, Bruns CJ, Heeschen C (2007) Distinct populations of cancer stem cells determine tumor growth and metastatic activity in human pancreatic cancer. Cell Stem Cell 1:313–323
Jemal A, Bray F, Center MM, Ferlay J, Ward E, Forman D (2011) Global cancer statistics. CA: Cancer J Clin 61:69–90
Joshua B, Kaplan MJ, Doweck I, Pai R, Weissman IL, Prince ME, Ailles LE (2012) Frequency of cells expressing CD44, a head and neck cancer stem cell marker: correlation with tumor aggressiveness. Head Neck 34(1):42–49
Kim Y, Lin Q, Glazer PM, Yun Z (2009) Hypoxic tumor microenvironment and cancer cell differentiation. Curr Mol Med 9(4):425–434
Korkaya H, Liu S, Wicha MS (2011) Breast cancer stem cells, cytokine networks, and the tumor microenvironment. J Clin Invest 121(10):3804–3809
Koukourakis MI, Giatromanolaki A, Tsakmaki V, Danielidis V, Sivridis E (2012) Cancer stem cell phenotype relates to radio-chemotherapy outcome in locally advanced squamous cell head-neck cancer. Br J Cancer 14. doi:10.1038/bjc.2012.33
Krishnamurthy S, Dong Z, Vodopyanov D, Imai A, Helman JI, Prince ME, Wicha MS, Nör JE (2010) Endothelial cell-initiated signaling promotes the survival and self-renewal of cancer stem cells. Cancer Res 70(23):9969–9978
Lapidot T, Sirard C, Vormoor J, Murdoch B, Hoang T, Caceres-Cortes J, Minden M, Paterson B, Caligiuri MA, Dick JE (1994) A cell initiating human acute myeloid leukaemia after transplantation into SCID mice. Nature 367(6464):645–648
Lu X, Kang Y (2010) Hypoxia and hypoxia-inducible factors: master regulators of metastasis. Clin Cancer Res 16(24):5928–5935
Okamoto A, Chikamatsu K, Sakakura K, Hatsushika K, Takahashi G, Masuyama K (2009) Expansion and characterization of cancer stem-like cells in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Oral Oncol 45(7):633–639
Prince ME, Sivanandan R, Kaczorowski A, Wolf GT, Kaplan MJ, Dalerba P, Weissman IL, Clarke MF, Ailles LE (2007) Identification of a subpopulation of cells with cancer stem cell properties in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:973–978
Reya T, Morrison SJ, Clarke MF, Weissman IL (2001) Stem cells, cancer, and cancer stem cells. Nature 414(6859):105–111
Storms RW, Trujillo AP, Springer JB, Shah L, Colvin OM, Ludeman SM, Smith C (1999) Isolation of primitive human hematopoietic progenitors on the basis of aldehyde dehydrogenase activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 96:9118–9123
Sun S, Wang Z (2011) Head neck squamous cell carcinoma c-Met+ cells display cancer stem cell properties and are responsible for cisplatin-resistance and metastasis. Int J Cancer 129(10):2337–2348
Wang SJ, Wong G, de Heer AM, Xia W, Bourguignon LY (2009) CD44 variant isoforms in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma progression. Laryngoscope 119(8):1518–1530
Yang JP, Liu Y, Zhong W, Yu D, Wen LJ, Jin CS (2011) Chemoresistance of CD133+ cancer stem cells in laryngeal carcinoma. Chin Med J 124(7):1055–1060
Zhou L, Wei X, Cheng L, Tian J, Jiang JJ (2007) CD133, one of the markers of cancer stem cells in Hep-2 cell line. Laryngoscope 117:455–460
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Prince, M.E., Chinn, S.B. (2013). Cancer Stem Cells in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. In: Hayat, M. (eds) Stem Cells and Cancer Stem Cells, Volume 9. Stem Cells and Cancer Stem Cells, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5645-8_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5645-8_25
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5644-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5645-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)