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Pastor et al. J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2020;6:39 Journal of Cancer
DOI: 10.20517/2394-4722.2020.57 Metastasis and Treatment

Review Open Access

Exosomes as a promising diagnostic tool in head
and neck squamous cell carcinoma?

Kristina Pastor, Laura Benecke, Laurent Muller

Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel and Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University
Hospital of Basel, Basel4031, Switzerland.
Correspondence to: Dr. Laurent Muller, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital of
Basel, Petersgraben4, Basel4031, Switzerland. E-mail: laurent.muller@usb.ch
How to cite this article: Pastor K, Benecke L, Muller L. Exosomes as a promising diagnostic tool in head and neck squamous cell
carcinoma? J Cancer Metastasis Treat 2020;6:39. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2394-4722.2020.57
Received: 7 Jun 2020 First Decision: 30 Jun 2020 Revised: 27 Aug 2020 Accepted: 14 Sep 2020 Published: 24 Oct 2020

Academic Editor: Robert J. Griffin Copy Editor: Cai-Hong Wang Production Editor: Jing Yu

Abstract
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the 6th most frequently diagnosed malignancy and accounts
for about 5% of all malignancies worldwide. There is a lack of biomarkers to monitor the status and progress of
the disease. Therefore, it is of great importance to develop non-invasive diagnostic tools such as exosomes that
monitor tumor changes and provide molecular information about the malignancy to identify the metastatic disease
earlier and allow better therapeutic management. Thus, we aimed to review whether tumor-derived exosomes can
predict disease progression in HNSCC and if and especially how they can be used as a diagnostic tool.

Keywords: Exosomes, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, tumor-derived exosomes, liquid biopsy

CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT EXOSOMES AS BIOMARKERS IN HNSCC
Exosomes are virus-sized extracellular vesicles ranging from 30 to 150 nm in diameter that originate from
[1-4]
the endosomal compartment of most eukaryotic cells . By fusion of cytosolic multivesicular bodies with
the cell surface, they are released into the extracellular environment. Detectable in biological fluids such
as serum/plasma, urine, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, and cell culture medium, exosomes accumulate in the
[5]
tumor microenvironment since tumor cells are highly active in producing exosomes . HNSCC patients
with early or advanced disease severity show a significantly higher exosome number in their plasma in
[6,7]
[8]
comparison to healthy patients . We can compare exosomes to hemerodromes in ancient Greece .

© The Author(s) 2020. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
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