P53 mutation correlates with cisplatin sensitivity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma lines

Background. A critical factor for successful organ preservation treatment in head and neck cancer may be selecting tumors that respond to chemotherapy and radiation. Previous results in patients indicated that tumors that overexpressed p53 were more sensitive to chemotherapy than those that did not overexpress p53. Methods. To determine the relationship of p53 mutations to sensitivity to cisplatin in vitro, 23 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines were analyzed for cisplatin sensi-