Pretreatment microRNA expression impacting on epithelial to mesenchymal transition predicts intrinsic radiosensitivity in head and neck cancer cell lines and patients [FaDu]

Purpose: Predominant causes of head and neck cancer recurrence after radiotherapy are rapid repopulation, hypoxia, fraction of cancer stem cells and intrinsic radioresistance. Currently, intrinsic radioresistance can only be assessed by ex-vivo colony assays. Besides being time-consuming, colony assays do not identify causes of intrinsic resistance. We aimed to identify a biomarker for intrinsic radioresistance to be used before start of treatment and to reveal biological processes that could be targeted to overcome intrinsic resistance.

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de Jong MC, Ten Hoeve JJ, Grénman R, Wessels LF, Kerkhoven R, Te Riele H, van den Brekel MW, Verheij M, Begg AC