Gene Predicts Outcomes for Head and Neck Patients

A human cancer-causing gene, called the DEK oncogene (DEK), can be detected in the plasma of head and neck cancer patients and this may help doctors understand how a person's immune system could be used to treat cancer or predict outcomes for patients.

Head and neck cancers are strongly associated with certain environmental and lifestyle risk factors, including tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, ultraviolet (UV) light, particular chemicals used in certain workplaces, and certain strains of viruses, such as human papilloma virus (HPV).


Scientists at the University of Cincinnati (OH, USA) collected whole blood from patients with newly diagnosed and untreated head and neck cancer or normal healthy participants who were the same age. Plasma was separated from the samples, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), a test that uses antibodies and color change to identify a substance, was administered. Plasma DEK levels were compared to normal control levels, tumor stage, age and smoking status and these levels were also compared to inflammatory markers, which can signify cancer, in the plasma and tissue.

Trisha Wise-Draper, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Division of Hematology Oncology and principal investigator of the study said, “Head and neck cancer remains the sixth most common cancer worldwide. One potential plasma biomarker is programmed by the human DEK gene, which has been found to promote cancer. DEK RNA and protein are highly increased in tissue specimens from several tumor types including head and neck cancer, breast cancer and melanoma, and antibodies to DEK are also detected in patients with autoimmune diseases like juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Our previous work has shown that DEK is highly and universally present in head and neck cancer tissue specimens regardless of stage or HPV infection and has suggested tumor-association. In addition, white blood cells (macrophages) secrete DEK protein leading to the hypothesis that DEK may be present in the plasma of cancer patients and could be correlated with aggressiveness of disease and patient outcomes.”

Prof. Wise-Draper added, “We found that DEK was present in the plasma of both healthy control subjects and those with head and neck cancer. Overall, DEK was decreased in head and neck cancer patients compared to healthy patients, but it was inversely correlated with interleukin-6 (IL-6), which is secreted by T cells and triggers an immune response, in the plasma. The immune system's reaction to the tumor also appeared to be linked with high DEK plasma levels. So, although DEK presence is increased in head and neck cancer tissue, plasma DEK levels are decreased in patients when compared with healthy individuals and are further decreased in patients with advanced cancers.” The study was presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, held February 18-20, 2016, in Scottsdale (AZ, USA).

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