59 KB993 KB34 KB199220252008Strojan, Primožštevilka:2letnik:42str. 69-81ISSN:1318-2099COBISSID:24489433URN:URN:NBN:SI:doc-8IN9RW7FenAssociation of Radiology and OncologyRadiology and oncology (Ljubljana)biokemijaCathepsinsCistatiniCystatinsglavaGlava in vrat, novotvorbeHead And Neck NeoplasmsImmunohistochemistryImunohistokemijaKatepsininovotvorbePreživetje, analizaPrognosisPrognozarak (medicina)stefiniSurvival AnalysistumorvratVrataCysteine cathepsins and stefins in head and neck cancer| an update of clinical studies|Background. Cancer of the head and neck represents a diverse group of malignant diseases; so far, no factor in a wide spectrum of biochemical and histological candidate-markers has yet been identified to predict reliably thenatural course of the disease or its response to the therapy to be used in routine clinical practice. Among the factors that promote tumor growth and invasion, several protease systems, implemented in proteolytic degradation of extracellular matrix components, were studied, including papain-like lysosomalcysteine proteases (e.g. cathepsins B and L) and their physiological inhibitors cystatins (e.g. stefins A and B, cystatin C). The aim of the present report is to review the published studies on clinical applicability ofcysteine cathepsins and their endogenous inhibitors stefins in squamous cellcarcinoma of the head and neck and to present recent research results fromthis area conducted jointly by the Institute of Oncology Ljubljana and ENTDepartment of the University Medical Center Ljubljana, Slovenia. Conclusions. According to our experience, immunohistochemical staining of cysteine cathepsins and stefins seems to be of limited value for predicting either treatment response or patientsć survival. However, the results of studies on stefin A in tumor tissue cytosols should be considered hypothesis-generating and deserves further evaluation in the frame of prospective controlled multicentric clinical studyTEXTznanstveno časopisjejournalsSlovenian National E-content AggregatorNational and University Library of SloveniaDruštvo radiologije in onkologije