M A Nezami
Pacific Medical Center of Hope, USA
Title: Epigenetic silencing of promoter genes involved with head and neck carcinomas: Translational research to reverse epigenetic pathways in oncogenesis in head and neck cancer
Biography
Biography: M A Nezami
Abstract
Here we review the translational research of specific epistasis, in head and neck cancer. We hypothesized that epigenetic regulation of specific targets (Dok1) through selective demethylators may reverse tumor invasion and metastasis by inhibition of EMT. Silenced Dok1, either through an epimutation or epigenetic silencing, inhibits migration. We propose the use of a combination of novel Dok1 enhancers with compounds known to inhibit migration. To our knowledge, these combinations have not been explored, and the medical literature has failed to demonstrate actionable targets that could lead to the reversal of epigenomic aberrancies in head and neck cancer. We also propose the use of the combination of Dok1 enhancers with the current standard tyrosine kinase inhibitors. We have predicted that further epigenetic therapy would greatly improve the modern treatment of these patients with EBV-positive tumors. Here, we review case studies of head and neck cancer treated with such a method, and we conclude that further human studies are needed in larger scale to generate further hypotheses and proof of the concept.