p53-based therapeutics for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Inactivation of the tumor suppressor p53 is a pathogenetic event in the development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In the absence of functional wildtype p53, HNSCC cells have increased resistance to standard chemotherapeutics and radiation. Numerous approaches to restore p53 function in cancer cells have been developed over the past several decades. This review article focuses on viral approaches to deliver wildtype p53 to HNSCC cells, a designer virus that selectively eliminates mutant p53 HNSCC cells, and chemical approaches to reactivate p53 function in HNSCC cells. These promising studies provide evidence that p53 therapeutics may prove useful alone or in combination with conventional chemotherapy and/or radiation for the management of HNSCC patients.