The survival rate of oral squamous cell carcinoma is about 66%. More than 10,000 Americans die each year from oral cancer. Researchers at Boston University's Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine have found that deleting or inhibiting a protein in the tongue might stall tumor growth!
A protein called lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) -- an enzyme that typically plays a crucial role in normal cell and embryo development --is inappropriately up-regulated in a range of cancers, including in the head and neck, as well as those in the brain, esophagus, liver, and lung.
"The expression of this enzyme goes up with each tumor stage," says Bais, who's also a member of BU's Center for Multiscale & Translational Mechanobiology. "The worse the tumor, the higher the expression of this protein."
By disrupting LSD1, the growth of the tumor was significantly curbed.
"The aggressiveness, or bad behavior, of the tumor went down," he says. "We found that when we inhibit this protein, it promotes anti-tumor immunity -- our body tries to fight by itself."
The findings provide a basis for future clinical studies based on the inhibition of LSD1, either as monotherapy or in combination with other agents to treat oral cancer in humans!
For more information, read the article below!
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