About the project
Oral cancer. Invasion and migration in-vivo and in-vitro Oral cancer is a serious disease with high morbidity and mortality. Oral cancer is i.e. characterized with aggressive invasion and spread to regional lymph nodes. Average 5-year survival is approximately 60%, and has not improved much the last decades. The biological knowlege of the mechanisms involved in invasion is rather scarce and increased knowledge is a crucial fundament for development of new treatments. Cell migration and invasion are fundamental for oral cancer spread.
This project is mainly focused on these properties in-vivo and in-vitro. Patient materials with follow-up data are studied in prognostic in-vivo studies. Our main focus in thease studies is the invasive front (tumor-host interface). This is due to the fact that crucial crosstalk between tumor- and host cells occurs in this area. We have also in the past reported that diagnostic focus in this area probably give the best prognostic relevance. We focus on the biological effects and clinical relevance of i.e. receptor tyrosin kinases, growth factors, prostaglandins, MAPK-kinases, anhesion molecules, micro-RNA's and matrix proteins. We mainly use two main in-vitro assays in invasion studies: 1.) "Scrath" assay in monoculture, 2D, studies. 2) 3D coculture organotypical models (cancer cells incubated on a matrix containing vital fibroblasts. This assay is time-consuming but most likely more relevant for the study of cancer cell invasion than 2D models.