Researchers from the American College of Radiology Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) have found a method to identify head and neck cancer patients with a higher risk of developing distant metastases or suffering a relapse.
Using tumor biopsies and data from 306 patients, a phase III multicenter randomized trial of four radiation therapy schedules for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, investigators found that an increase in lysyl oxidase (LOX) expression is a predictor for developing distant metastases, disease progression, and overall survival.
LOX is an enzyme associated with hypoxia, or a reduction in tissue oxygen, which is thought to increase the likelihood of metastases.
Lead study author Dr. Quynh-Thu Le, a professor in the department of radiation oncology at Stanford University in Stanford, CA, noted that the research has validated LOX as a marker for metastasis, and thereby the significance of hypoxia, in head and neck cancer patients treated with radiation therapy.
The researchers plan to continue their investigations of LOX's prognostic abilities through future studies with patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and determine the impact of LOX in relation to human papillomavirus (HPV) status, another known prognostic marker in these cancers.
The RTOG's findings are published online by the Journal of Clinical Oncology (August 10, 2009).
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