The IGF system has been shown to have either negative or negligible impact on clinical outcomes of tumor development depending on specific tumor sites or stages. This review focuses on the clinical impact of IGF signaling in head and neck cancer, the effects of IGF targeted therapies, and the multi-dimensional role of IRS 1/2 signaling as a potential mechanism in resistance to targeted therapies. Similar to other tumor sites, both negative and positive correlations between levels of IGF-1/IGF-1-R and clinical outcomes in head and neck cancer have been reported. In addition, utilization of IGF targeted therapies has not demonstrated significant clinical benefit; therefore the prognostic impact of the IGF system on head and neck cancer remains uncertain.
Keywords: AMP-activated protein kinase; AMPK; Akt; Clinical outcomes; EGF; EGFR; HNSCC; Head and neck cancer; IGF; IGF inhibition; IGF-1-R; IGFBP; IRS; MAPK; OCSCC; PI3K; epidermal growth factor; epidermal growth factor receptor; head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; insulin receptor substrate; insulin-like growth factor; insulin-like growth factor binding protein; insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor; mTOR; mammalian target of rapamycin; mitogen-activated protein kinases; oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma; phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; protein kinase B, PKB.
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