Standard treatment in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is limited currently with decisions being made primarily based on tumor location, histology, and stage. The role of the human papillomavirus in risk stratification is actively under clinical trial evaluations. The molecular complexity and intratumoral heterogeneity of the disease are not actively integrated into management decisions of HNSCC, despite a growing body of knowledge in these areas. The advent of the genomic era has delivered vast amounts of information regarding different cancer subtypes and is providing new therapeutic targets, which can potentially be elucidated using next-generation sequencing and other modern technologies. The task ahead is to expand beyond the existent armamentarium by exploiting beyond the genome and perform integrative analysis using innovative systems biology methods, with the goal to deliver effective precision medicine-based theragnostic options in HNSCC.

中文翻译：

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头颈癌精准医学：神话还是现实？

目前头颈鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）的标准治疗受到限制，主要根据肿瘤的位置，组织学和分期做出决定。在临床试验评估中，人类乳头瘤病毒在风险分层中的作用正在积极地进行。尽管这些领域的知识越来越多，但该疾病的分子复杂性和肿瘤内异质性并未积极纳入HNSCC的管理决策。基因组时代的到来已经提供了有关不同癌症亚型的大量信息，并提供了新的治疗靶标，可以使用下一代测序和其他现代技术来阐明这些靶标。