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Human Papillomavirus and Head and Neck Cancer - Molecular Research
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Human Papillomavirus and Head and Neck Cancer - Molecular Research

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Oncology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 7353

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nina Milutin Gašperov

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Molecular Medicine, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: HPV; head and neck cancer; cervical cancer; biomarkers; epigenetics; DNA methylation
Dr. Magdalena Grce

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Molecular Medicine, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: HPV; head and neck cancer; cervical cancer; epidemiology; biomarkers; epigenetics
Dr. Emil Dediol

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Clinical Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: head and neck cancer; maxillo-facial surgery; epigenetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The special issue “Human Papillomavirus and Head and Neck Cancer - Molecular Research” of the journal IJMS will comprise important new data in the field of this cancer and related to virus infection. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the known aetiology of a growing percentage of a subset of head and neck cancers (HNC), notably oral squamous cell carcinoma, oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Although traditionally, HNC has been related to tobacco and alcohol exposure, the HPV role in this cancer is growing. Namely, HPV-positive HNC patients represent a subgroup with unique epidemiologic and prognostic characteristics, and recently represent a growing public health concern. In HPV-positive HNC, viral oncoprotein activity, genetic and epigenetic alterations play a key role during carcinogenesis. Targeted therapy is a promising tool in the context of immunotherapy and/or epigenetic therapy. The use of genetic and epigenetic biomarkers should be introduced in disease detection, as well as disease and treatment monitoring. HNC could be largely preventable cancer, since most of the different risk factors are identified, such as tobacco use and alcohol consumption, and still there is high mortality. Therefore, early diagnosis is of greatest importance, even before cancer occurrence, with identification of potentially malignant lesions of the oral mucosa.

In this special issue we encourage submissions of high-quality research articles or reviews. Suitable topics for this special edition include HNC genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, as well as detection, epidemiology, pathology, immunology, therapy and monitoring. Finally, studies addressing early detection by imaging, biomarkers, and detection of premalignant conditions will be welcome. All these topics preferably related to HPV status.

Dr. Nina Milutin Gašperov
Dr. Magdalena Grce
Dr. Emil Dediol
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • HNC
  • HPV
  • carcinogenesis
  • lesions
  • biomarkers
  • prognosis
  • therapy

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 265 KiB  
Communication
Methylation of Immune Gene Promoters in Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancer
by Petra Anić, Jasminka Golubić Talić, Ksenija Božinović, Emil Dediol, Marinka Mravak-Stipetić, Magdalena Grce and Nina Milutin Gašperov
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 7698; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24097698 - 22 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1697
Abstract
The proportion of oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OOSCC) that can be attributed to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is growing nowadays. A potential factor indicating the occurrence of HPV-positive OSCC is a change in the degree of methylation of gene promoters that [...] Read more.
The proportion of oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OOSCC) that can be attributed to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is growing nowadays. A potential factor indicating the occurrence of HPV-positive OSCC is a change in the degree of methylation of gene promoters that play a key role in the immune response. In this study, we investigated the difference in the methylation of EDARADD, GBP4, HAVCR2, HLA DPB1, IL12RB1, MARCO, and SIGLEC12 gene promoters in samples of healthy oral mucosa versus samples of oral and oropharyngeal cancer. The presence of HPV infection in samples was examined earlier. To determine the difference in methylation of those gene promotors, isolated and bisulfite-modified DNA was analysed by the methylation-specific PCR method. The investigated gene promoters were found to be more hypomethylated in the oral and oropharyngeal cancer samples in comparison to normal tissue. The proportion of unmethylated gene promoters was similar in HPV-positive and HPV-negative cancers, although the data should be confirmed on a larger set of samples. To conclude, in samples of healthy oral mucosa, the investigated gene promoters were found to be methylated in a high percentage (73.3% to 100%), while in oral and oropharyngeal cancer samples, they were methylated in a low percentage (11.1% to 37%), regardless of HPV infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Papillomavirus and Head and Neck Cancer - Molecular Research)
14 pages, 10532 KiB  
Article
Head and Neck Cancer Patients’ Survival According to HPV Status, miRNA Profiling, and Tumour Features—A Cohort Study
by Ivana Šimić, Ksenija Božinović, Nina Milutin Gašperov, Mario Kordić, Ena Pešut, Luka Manojlović, Magdalena Grce, Emil Dediol and Ivan Sabol
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(4), 3344; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24043344 - 7 Feb 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2546
Abstract
Head and neck cancers (HNC) are a heterogeneous group of tumours mainly associated with tobacco and alcohol use and human papillomavirus (HPV). Over 90% of all HNC are squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Sample material from patients diagnosed with primary HNSCC (n = [...] Read more.
Head and neck cancers (HNC) are a heterogeneous group of tumours mainly associated with tobacco and alcohol use and human papillomavirus (HPV). Over 90% of all HNC are squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Sample material from patients diagnosed with primary HNSCC (n = 76) treated with surgery as primary treatment at a single centre were assessed for HPV genotype, miR-9-5p, miR-21-3p, miR-29a-3p and miR-100-5p expression levels. Clinical and pathological data were collected from medical records. Patients were enrolled between 2015 and 2019 and followed-up until November 2022. Overall survival, disease-specific survival and disease-free survival were assessed and correlated with clinical, pathological, and molecular data. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard regression was used to assess different risk factors. In the study, male gender, HPV-negative HNSCC (76.3%) mostly located in the oral region (78.9%) predominated. Most patients had stage IV cancer (47.4%), and the overall survival rate was 50%. HPV was found not to affect survival, indicating that in this population, classic risk factors predominate. The presence of both perineural and angioinvasion was strongly associated with survival in all analyses. Of all miRNAs assessed, only upregulation of miR-21 was consistently shown to be an independent predictor of poor prognosis and may thus serve as a prognostic biomarker in HNSCC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Papillomavirus and Head and Neck Cancer - Molecular Research)
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14 pages, 13939 KiB  
Article
FBXL7 Body Hypomethylation Is Frequent in Tumors from the Digestive and Respiratory Tracts and Is Associated with Risk-Factor Exposure
by Diego Camuzi, Luisa Aguirre Buexm, Simone de Queiroz Chaves Lourenço, Rachele Grazziotin, Simone Guaraldi, Priscila Valverde, Davy Rapozo, Jill M. Brooks, Hisham Mehanna, Luis Felipe Ribeiro Pinto and Sheila Coelho Soares-Lima
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(14), 7801; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23147801 - 15 Jul 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2493
Abstract
Squamous cell carcinoma is the main histological tumor type in the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT), including the esophagus (ESCC) and the head and neck sites, as well as the oral cavity (OCSCC), larynx (LSCC) and oropharynx (OPSCC). These tumors are induced by alcohol [...] Read more.
Squamous cell carcinoma is the main histological tumor type in the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT), including the esophagus (ESCC) and the head and neck sites, as well as the oral cavity (OCSCC), larynx (LSCC) and oropharynx (OPSCC). These tumors are induced by alcohol and tobacco exposure, with the exception of a subgroup of OPSCC linked to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Few genes are frequently mutated in UADT tumors, pointing to other molecular mechanisms being involved during carcinogenesis. The F-box and leucine-rich repeat protein 7 (FBXL7) is a potential tumor-suppressing gene, one that is frequently hypermethylated in pancreatic cancer and where the encoded protein promotes the degradation of AURKA, BIRC5 and c-SRC. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the methylation and expression profile of FBXL7 in the UADT and the gene’s association with the clinical, etiological and pathological characteristics of patients, as well as the expression of its degradation targets. Here we show that the FBXL7 gene’s body is hypomethylated in the UADT, independently of histology, but not in virus-associated tumors. FBXL7 body methylation and gene expression levels were correlated in the ESCC, LSCC, OCSCC and OPSCC. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that FBXL7 protein levels are not correlated with the levels of its degradation targets, AURKA and BIRC5, in the UADT. The high discriminatory potential of FBXL7 body hypomethylation between non-tumor and tumor tissues makes it a promising biomarker. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Papillomavirus and Head and Neck Cancer - Molecular Research)
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