Oral cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide and in the U.S., one person dies every hour from the disease. According to American Cancer Society data, nearly as many women will be diagnosed with oral cancer as with cervical cancer this year. The key to reducing the impact of this disease is early detection.
Fibroblasts build and maintain the extracellular matrix, or physical scaffolding for cells, in the connective tissues within the body.
Up to half of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma will experience tumor recurrence or new tumors--tumors that often spread and are difficult to treat.
MUSC Hollings Cancer Center researchers are exploring the use of peptide carriers for the delivery of small RNA drugs as a novel treatment for cancer. The team's recent work, published online March 19 in the Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids journal, lays the foundation for developing a clinically relevant peptide carrier RNAi-based drug treatment strategy for human oral cancer.