title: Predicting clinical outcome in feline oral squamous cell carcinoma: tumour initiating cells, telomeres and telomerase.
abstract: Feline oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has very poor prognosis. Here, a retrospective pilot study was conducted on 20 feline oral SCC patients who underwent stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT), to evaluate: (1) the value of putative tumour initiating cell (TIC) markers of human head and neck SCC (CD44, Bmi-1); (2) telomere length (TL) specifically in putative TICs; and (3) tumour relative telomerase activity (TA). Significant inverse correlations were found between treatment outcomes and Bmi-1 expression, supporting the predictive value of Bmi-1 as a negative prognostic indicator. While TL exhibited a wide range of variability, particularly in very short fractions, many tumours possessed high levels of TA, which correlated with high levels of Bmi-1, Ki67 and EGFR. Taken together, our results imply that Bmi-1 and telomerase may represent novel therapeutic targets in feline oral SCC, as their inhibition - in combination with SRT - would be expected to have beneficial treatment outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Maranon
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
authors.forename: C L R
authors.initials: CLR
authors.lastname: Battaglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Ehrhart
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: LaRue
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism*; D016615:Telomere
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019098:Telomerase
keywords: Bmi-1; CD44; cancer stem cells; feline oral squamous cell carcinoma; stereotactic radiation therapy; telomeres/telomerase