Abstract
BACKGROUND: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is more prevalent in men than women and this disparity cannot be fully explained by known risk factors. Recent studies have shown that loss of Y chromosome (LoY) confers an increased risk of solid cancer and reduces life expectancy in men.
METHODS: Using publicly available data from The Cancer Genome Atlas, we investigated the prevalence of LoY and its association with clinicopathological features in male HNSCC.
RESULTS: LoY was detectable in around 25% of male HNSCC. Men with human papillomavirus-negative tumors exhibiting LoY experienced significantly worse overall survival than those with no LoY. Moreover, LoY tumors exhibited overexpression of genes involved in redox processes, including genes previously implicated in resistance to both radiotherapy and cisplatin-based chemotherapeutics.
CONCLUSION: LoY may be an indicator of poor prognosis in male HNSCC that is linked to the overexpression of genes associated with resistance to standard care therapies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 993-1006 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Head & Neck |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 23 Dec 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Mar 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Medical Research Council, Grant/Award Number: 1608750
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Authors. Head & Neck published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Keywords
- Y chromosome
- aneuploidy
- head and neck cancer
- immune system
- therapeutic resistance
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Otorhinolaryngology
Access to Document
- Robert_Hollows_et_al_Association_between_loss_of_Y_chromosome_Head_&_Neck_2018
Checked for eligibility: 09/01/2018