Establishment and characterization of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines resistant to cisplatin

• Grant number: 18/13764-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2018
• End date: July 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry
• Principal Investigator: Luciana Oliveira de Almeida
• Grantee: Julia Lima de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirão Preto (FORP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/11780-8 - Study of epigenetic modifications related to cancer stem cells accumulation in head and neck cancer: implications in chemoresistance, AP.JP

Abstract

Acquired resistance to therapeutic agents is a serious issue in cancer treatment. Over 7.5 million people die every year because of failures in the therapy due chemoresistance. Cisplatin is the one of the most used therapeutic drugs in cancer treatment, including in Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and several patients develop resistance to cisplatin. Patients respond well in the beginning (over 70% of tumor volume reduction), however, the tumor reduction diminishes to 15-20% with the progression of the treatment. In HNSCC, very few improvement in the treatment strategies have been observed in the last 3 decades. Five years survival rates are below 50%. Increased mortality rates are due recurrence and metastasis development and these phenotypes are associated with an unfavorable response to the treatment. Molecular mechanisms related with acquired resistance in HNSCC still unknown, but it has been suggested that chemoresistance is controlled by a small population of cells identified as cancer stem cells (CSC). Several studies have been showing CSC may be accumulated after chemo and radiotherapy. So, make use of this strategy of CSC enrichment can contribute in the characterization of the CSC signaling that are controlling the acquired chemoresistance. Here, we propose to establish and characterize phenotypic and biological changes in HNSCC cell lines with acquired chemoresistance after long-term treatment using cisplatin, to try to comprehend the pathways and mechanisms related to chemoresistance in order to develop new strategies of treatment that may improve the survival of the patients.