Mechanisms of head and neck carcinoma invasion

Background. Squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck region are highly aggressive cancers. Survival of these patients critically depends on the p revention of locoregional recurrences. A locoregional relapse is associated with an invasive growth pattern of the primary cancer. Thus;we need to und erstand regulatory mechanisms of cancer invasion to be able to develop ther apeutic strategies, which may help to improve survival in this patient popu lation. Method. Literature search. Results. Certain tumor proteases are required for invasive growth of head a nd neck cancers. Discussion. It is our understanding that further indepth investigation of m echanisms involved in the regulation of protease expression may help to dev elop treatment strategies, which improve survival by reducing the invasive capacity of head and neck cancer cells.