Intratumor heterogeneity of head and neck cancer

• Project/Area Number: 17K16923
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Otorhinolaryngology
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Ryutaro Uchi 九州大学, 大学病院, 医員 (80780840)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2019)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥90,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000)
• Keywords: 癌ゲノム / 頭頸部癌 / 腫瘍内不均一性 / 鼻副鼻腔癌 / ゲノム進化 / 舌癌 / 頭頚部癌 / 癌 / ゲノム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Although nasal sinus papilloma is a benign tumor, it is associated with a certain frequency of malignancy (papilloma-derived cancer) known. We isolated the papilloma and cancerous parts from specimens of papilloma-derived cancer cases and used amplicon sequencing. Gene mutation analysis was performed.
MSLT10 and FLT4 were identified as partially cancer-specific mutant genes.　Heterogeneity of mutations between papilloma and carcinoma in the same sample was confirmed. Our results suggest that the accumulation of mutations may occur in the papilloma state to the same extent as in the cancer state.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

良性腫瘍である鼻腔乳頭腫が癌化するさい、良性腫瘍の段階で多くの遺伝子変異を起こすことが明らかになりました。良性腫瘍を手術で切除した際に今後の癌化するかどうかを予測するシステムの構築につながる可能性があります。