The roles of extracellular vesicles in the development, microenvironment, anticancer drug resistance, and therapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the main malignant tumours affecting human health, mainly due to delayed diagnosis and high invasiveness. Extracellular vehicles (EVs) are membranous vesicles released by cells into the extracellular matrix that carry important signalling molecules and stably and widely exist in various body fluids, such as plasma, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, breast milk, urine, semen, lymphatic fluid, synovial fluid, amniotic fluid, and sputum. EVs transport almost all types of bioactive molecules (DNA, mRNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs), proteins, metabolites, and even pharmacological compounds). These “cargoes” can act on recipient cells, reshaping the surrounding microenvironment and altering distant targets, ultimately affecting their biological behaviour. The extensive exploration of EVs has deepened our comprehensive understanding of HNSCC biology. In this review, we not only summarized the effect of HNSCC-derived EVs on the tumour microenvironment but also described the role of microenvironment-derived EVs in HNSCC and discussed how the “mutual dialogue” between the tumour and microenvironment mediates the growth, metastasis, angiogenesis, immune escape, and drug resistance of tumours. Finally, the clinical application of EVS in HNSCC was assessed.

The circ_0032822 Promotes the Proliferation of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells Through miR-141/EF3 Signaling Axis

“…Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) refers to an epithelial malignant tumor that originates in the head and neck and over 600,000 new cases are reported every year (1,2). Although advances in technology and supportive treatment have improved the quality of life of HNSCC patients, the overall prognosis is still poor due to local recurrence and distant metastasis after surgery (3,4). Therefore, there is an urgent need to better understand the molecular mechanism of HNSCC progression to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and personalized treatment of patients.…”

Resveratrol and Its Analogs: Potent Agents to Reverse Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Tumors

“…More and more evidence has manifested that head and neck cancer has a subpopulation of cells which possess stem-like properties and ability to trigger tumor metastasis as well as the resistance of treatment (161). Cancer researchers pay huge attention to stemness signature interacted with EMT.…”

Impact of Oncogenic Targets by Tumor-Suppressive miR-139-5p and miR-139-3p Regulation in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a malignant neoplasm that originates in the epithelium of the oral cavity, larynx, and pharynx, and it accounts for approximately 90% of head and neck cancers [ 1 , 2 ]. HNSCC is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, and over 10% of the patients are at an advanced stage at the time of initial diagnosis [ 3 ]. In addition, approximately half of the patients will experience recurrence after treatment [ 4 ].…”