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head-and-neck carcinoma to therapy. Int J Radiat CBL0137 mw Oncol Biol Phys 2004, 58:959–965.PubMedCrossRef 25. Yang Q, Moran MS, Haffty BG: Bcl-2 expression predicts local relapse for early-stage breast cancer receiving conserving surgery and radiotherapy. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2008, 115:343–348.PubMedCrossRef 26. Zerp SF, Stoter R, Kuipers G, Yang D, Lippman ME, Van Blitterswijk WJ, Bartelink H, Rooswinkel R, Lafleur V, Verheij M: AT-101, a small molecule inhibitor of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members, activates the SAPK/JNK pathway and enhances radiation-induced apoptosis. Radiat Oncol 2009, 4:47.PubMedCrossRef Competing interests The authors declared that they have XAV-939 price no conflict of interest. Authors’ contributions XST and ZMS designed research; JYL, WJ, YYL and QY performed research; JYL, YYL analyzed data; JYL and WJ wrote the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Introduction Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck is one of the most frequent malignancies in the world, with about a quarter of all cases Kinase Inhibitor Library cost occurring in the developing countries. SCC accounts for nearly 90% of all

head and neck carcinomas [1]. Approximately, one-fourth of all head and neck cancers are laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). LSCC is a malignant tumor of laryngeal epithelial origin and the clinical symptoms usually depend on its original site and size [2, 3]. Although several cutting-edge treatment strategies have been developed for LSCC, no treatment could achieve a satisfactory therapeutic outcome and the mortality rate of LSCC is still high (5-year survival rate is 64%) [4]. Therefore, it is urgent to develop novel and valuable markers to distinguish patients with poor prognosis or at high risk of early recurrence and guide chemotherapy and radiotherapy [5]. Alpha B-crystallin (αB-crystallin) is a member of the small heat

shock protein (sHSP) family and acts as a molecular chaperone, by preventing the aggregation of denatured proteins after the exposure to stresses such as heat shock, radiation, oxidative stress and anticancer drugs [6]. Moreover, ectopic expression of αB-crystallin in diverse cell types confers protection against a variety of apoptotic stimuli, including TNF-α, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand Urease (TRAIL), etoposide and growth factor deprivation [7, 8]. It is believed that αB-crystallin can interact with different apoptotic proteins to regulate apoptosis [9]. Recent studies suggest that αB-crystallin is a prognostic marker for various types of solid tumors [10–12]. αB-crystallin may play a role in tumorigenesis by modulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) [13, 14]. However, the expression and function of αB-crystallin in LSCC have not been determined. In this study, we examined the expression levels of αB-crystallin in LSCC tissues and tumor-adjacent normal tissues.