Source: JADA (Journal of the American Dental Association)

Scientists at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research found that blocking a certain protein inhibited the proliferation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, according to a study published in the February issue of Molecular Oncology.

In an experiment involving tissue samples of hundreds of head and neck cancer patients, an NIDCR team led by Silvio Gutkind, PhD, chief of NIDCR’s Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch, found that p38 kinase was active in most samples. They reported that the most malignant tissue samples had the highest activity of p38, and the least malignant samples had the lowest p38 activity. The normal oral tissue used as a control had no p38 activity.

When researchers turned off p38 activity in human oral cancer cells and transplanted these cells into laboratory mice, they found that the oral cancer cells without p38 activity were smaller than those with p38 activity. In addition, turning off p38 activity lessened the growth of new blood vessels, which cancers rely on for growth and the ability to spread to other parts of the body.

In the next phase of the study, they tested SB203580—a drug that is known to block p38 activity. SB203580 reduced the growth of head and neck cancer cells in the laboratory. When the NIDCR team then used SB203580 to treat human head and neck cancers that had been transplanted into lab mice, they found that SB203580 made the cancers smaller.

The next step, Dr. Gutkind says, is to test a new generation of drugs that inhibit p38.

* This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.