Comparative study of genomic, immunological and functional features of squamous cell carcinomas in five anatomical locations

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are the most common human solid tumors and a major cause of cancer mortality. They are a group of aggressive, genetically complex neoplasms with a high risk of recurrence and metastasis. In the Republic of Moldova in 2018 the incidence of head, neck, esophagus, lung, skin and cervical cancers constituted 3242 cases of which about 50% represented the histopathological form of Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Early diagnosis, improving the outcomes of disease management and adaptation of therapies are current and necessary requirements for reducing mortality. Genetic changes, alteration of intracellular signaling pathways, and immune system response in these cancers may be influenced by various factors such as: oncogenic viruses (HPV), local microbiome, tumor localization, etc. In order to extend the understanding and the area of knowledge about these malignancies, to highlight the biological similarities and differences between certain types of SCCs, are required complex, comparative studies of genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, metabolomic, imunological and microbiome events. This complex, comparative approach has not been widely applied in previous studies and will allow the identification of similarities and differences between the multi-omics and non-omics features, the determination of individual and common biomarkers in 5 types of Squamous Cell Carcinomas: skin, head-neck, esophagus, lung and cervical. The goal of the research is the comparative study of SCCs from different anatomical locations in order to improve the screening, early diagnosis, disease management and treatment of these tumors.