title: The extracellular matrix in oral squamous cell carcinoma: friend or foe?
abstract: Oral squamous cell carcinoma is a disfiguring, highly invasive and metastatic cancer. Despite advances in detection and therapy, many patients will continue to face a poor prognosis. It is well established that the predominate factor determining overall survival in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma is lymph node involvement. Tumor growth and progression to invasive cancer requires tumor cell interactions with the extracellular matrix. An understanding of how the extracellular matrix influences tumor development and invasion is fundamental in the development of new prognostic indicators and treatment strategies for oral squamous cell carcinoma. In this review, we summarize how changes in the extracellular matrix contribute to oral cancer development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, 5 Ravdin Building, Philadelphia PA 19104, USA. bziober@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Amy F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Ziober
authors.forename: Erica M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Falls
authors.forename: Barry L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Ziober
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement; D003094:Collagen / Q000502:physiology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000502:physiology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D018307:Neoplasms, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000097794:Kalinin
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D003094:Collagen; D000097794:Kalinin