BIOKARETRA

The BIOKARETRA project is in the context of translational research that aims to identify and validate prognostic and predictive biomarkers for head and neck cancer (HNC). The poor prognosis of HNC highlights the need for the development of prognostic and predictive biomarkers in order to identify subgroups of patients with different clinical characteristics (eg early relapse) and different responses to existing and new therapies. To date, HPV infection is the only reliable prognostic marker (its predictive value is under review) in combination with TNM staging. The identification of new biomarkers will help in HNC patients’ stratification, which is important especially for HPV positive patients. These biomarkers will help the oncologists elucidate the rate at which the disease progresses, so as to apply the appropriate therapeutic protocol and dosage, thereby achieving positive clinical results while at the same time minimizing the toxic side effects associated with therapeutic overdosing. In addition, the introduction of reliable biomarkers will allow the identification of patient personalized response to treatments.