Affiliations: Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | Department of Pathology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands | Maxillofacial Surgery/Oral Pathology, Academic Centre of Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Note: [] Corresponding author: Ruud H. Brakenhoff, Tumor Biology Section, Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, VU University Medical Center, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 20 4440953; Fax: +31 20 4442030; E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: A great disappointment in head and neck cancer surgery is that 10–30% of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients develop local recurrences despite histopathologically tumor-free surgical margins. These recurrences result from either minimal residual cancer (MRC) or preneoplastic lesions that remain behind after tumor resection. Distinguishing MRC from preneoplasic lesions is important to tailor postoperative radiotherapy more adequately. Here we investigated the suitability of quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) using human Ly-6D (hLy-6D) transcripts as molecular marker to detect MRC in surgical margins. Submucosal samples of deep surgical margins were collected from 18 non-cancer control patients and 67 HNSCC patients of whom eight had tumor-positive surgical margins. The samples were analyzed with hLy-6D qRT-PCR, and the data were analyzed in relation to the clinicohistological parameters. A significant difference was shown between the group of patients with histopathological tumor-positive surgical margins and the non-cancer control group (p<0.001), and the group of patients with histopathological tumor-free surgical margins (p=0.001). This study shows a novel approach for molecular analysis of deep surgical margins in head and neck cancer surgery. The preliminary data of this approach for detection of MRC in deep margins of HNSCC patients are promising.
Keywords: Head and neck cancer, hLy-6D, minimal residual cancer, molecular diagnosis, qRT-PCR, surgical margin
