Administration of growth factors promotes salisphere formation from irradiated parotid salivary glands.

ABSTRACT: Worldwide, 500,000 cases of head and neck cancer (HNC) are reported each year and the primary treatment for HNC is radiotherapy. Although the goal of radiotherapy is to target the tumor, secondary exposure occurs in surrounding normal tissues, such as the salivary glands. As a result, despite successful treatment of the cancer, patients are left with long-term side effects due to direct damage to the salivary glands. The effect is chronic and currently there is no treatment. Stem cells are an attractive therapeutic option for treatment of radiation-induced glandular dysfunction because of the potential to regenerate damaged cell populations and restore salivary gland function. However, limited knowledge about the endogenous stem cell population post irradiation hinders the development for

SUBMITTER: Nguyen VT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5873995 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature