© International & American Associations for Dental Research

AbstrAct An understanding of the process by which tumor cells destroy the basement membrane of the sur-face epithelium, invade, and metastasize is essen-tial to the development of novel treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). In recent years, there has been increased interest in the role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in invasion. EMT is a process that describes the development of motile, mesenchymal-like cells from non-motile parent epithelial cells. There are 3 known types of EMT that mediate develop-ment, wound healing, and carcinogenesis. This review summarizes studies of known EMT bio-markers in the context of HNSCC progression. The biomarkers discussed come from a wide range of proteins, including cell-surface proteins (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and Integrins), cytoskel-etal proteins (α-Smooth Muscle Actin, Vimentin, and β-catenin), extracellular matrix proteins (Collagens, Fibronectin, and Laminin), and tran-scription factors (SNAIL1, SNAIL2, TWIST, and LEF-1). Overall, the findings of these studies sug-gest that EMT mediates HNSCC progression. The mechanistic role of the EMT markers that have been associated with HNSCC should be more clearly defined if new anti-HNSCC therapies to block EMT progression are to be developed. KEY WOrDs: disease progression, extracellular matrix, oral pathology, neoplasm invasiveness, biological markers, head and neck neoplasms