Prognostic value of circulating tumor cells with podoplanin expression in patients with locally advanced or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

PDPN-positive/EpCAM-positive CTC ratio is a prognostic factor and defining the ratio in patients with HNSCC might be valuable to clinical management.

Review of emerging biomarkers in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in the era of immunotherapy and targeted therapy

“…A subgroup of CTCs express podoplanin, a known prognostic factor for HNSCC. Evidence suggests that an elevated podoplanin:EpCAM ratio in CTCs may be associated with a poor prognosis and treatment failure . In addition, PD‐L1‐positive CTCs may play a role in predicting response to immunotherapy .…”

“…Evidence suggests that an elevated podoplanin:EpCAM ratio in CTCs may be associated with a poor prognosis and treatment failure. 165 In addition, PD-L1-positive CTCs may play a role in predicting response to immunotherapy. 163,182 With regard to cfDNA, mitochondrial cfDNA content appears to be strongly associated with HNSCC in patients with lifestyle risk factors for the disease.…”

“…Several important advances have been achieved in recent years, that have improved the potential of liquid biopsy markers as robust clinical tools. Such advances include (a) estimation of tumor mutational burden through evaluation of plasma cfDNA 200 ; (b) more therapy-directed applications of CTCs, for example, PD-L1 expression in CTCs 163,165,182 ; (c) use of CTCs as a longitudinal monitoring tool to detect minimal residual disease after curative surgery 171 ; (d) CTC-derived xenografts used as surrogates to study tumor biology [201][202][203] ; and (e) three-dimensional CTC cultures 204 and CTC-derived organoids to aid in individualized precision medicine. 205…”

Podoplanin enhances lung cancer cell growth in vivo by inducing platelet aggregation

“…In contrast, podoplanin expressed in tumour cells also induces platelet aggregation (PMPA) and facilitates hematogenous dissemination 9, 19, 20 . In addition, it has been shown to be expressed in circulating tumour cells 21 , in tumour-initiating cells 22 and on the leading edge of tumour cells 23, 24 , and its high expression correlated with poor prognosis in patients with glioblastoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) 25, 26 . It is also involved in tumour progression 27, 28 ; however, a detailed mechanism explaining its role in tumour progression has not been elucidated.…”

Wound‐healing factors can prime head and neck cancer cells to increase their tumor‐forming capacity

“…These may result in a second invasive cancer or residual cancer cells remaining in the surgical wound in unde-tectable numbers (minimal residual cancer). 2 Another possible source is circulating tumor cells, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] introduced to the vascular system before and during surgery. From there, they are supposedly able to enter, and establish growth in, the environment provided by a healing wound, rich in epidermal growth stimuli, in analogy with the tumor self-seeding hypothesis.…”