This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on ISI (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Genetics  • Genetic Counseling/ Testing/ Therapy  • Oncology  • Head & Neck Cancer  • Genetics of Head & Neck Disease  • Neoplasms of Head & Neck  • Pathology of Head & Neck  • Alert me on articles by topic

Slow in Coming

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003;129:367-368.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In the 1990s, PCR permitted detailed investigation of genetic material. By decade's end, researchers declared that the human genome had been mapped. Tumor-specific genetic alterations were identified amidst great hope for clinically relevant innovation. Dr Friedlander accurately voices the disappointment of many that the utility of biomarkers is "limited to experimental clinical trials." Nearly every new putative marker is examined for clinical relevance. Even those that show promise in small pilot studies seem to fade under the scrutiny of larger, well-designed confirmatory studies.

Figure appears in full text version. Wayne Koch, MD

Detailed molecular information may be applied in several clinical paradigms. Since genetic alterations are foundational events in tumor transformation, the spectrum of alterations must be sufficiently complex to account for the clinical variability of HNSCC. Tumors of similar sites have markedly different growth rates, histologic grade, invasiveness, metastatic potential, and response to therapy. Unlocking the genotype of a particular tumor may be expected to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

RELATED ARTICLES

The Use of Genetic Markers in the Clinical Care of Patients With Head and Neck Cancer
Paul L. Friedlander
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003;129(3):363-366.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Genetic Markers of Head and Neck Cancer: Identifying New Molecular Targets
Carol R. Bradford
Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003;129(3):366-367.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT