title: Exploiting the head and neck cancer oncogenome: widespread PI3K-mTOR pathway alterations and novel molecular targets.
abstract: Two studies published in this issue of Cancer Discovery describe the emerging mutational landscape of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) and their genomic and epigenetic alterations, thus identifying novel actionable cancer drivers and predictive biomarkers for targeted therapies. Most genomic alterations in HNSCC converge in a handful of molecular pathways, resulting in cell-cycle deregulation, genomic instability, cell differentiation defects, and persistent mitogenic signaling, the latter involving aberrant phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/mTOR pathway activation, thereby rendering HNSCC responsive to PI3K/mTOR inhibitors. Cancer Discov; 3(7); 722-5. ©2013 AACR.
authors.affiliation: Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch, National Institute of Dental Research, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892-4330, USA.
authors.forename: Ramiro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iglesias-Bartolome
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: J Silvio
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Gutkind
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D053492:Elafin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D053492:Elafin; C506806:PI3 protein, human; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; C546842:MTOR protein, human; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases