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At the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, San Diego, Calif, September 1990, Presley M. Mock et al, San Antonio, Tex, presented their experience with amplification of oncogenes in head and neck cancer.
Oncogene amplification has been identified as a good prognosticator in cases of neuroblastoma as well as breast and lung carcinoma. The hypothesis tested by this study was that prognosis in patients with head and neck carcinoma can also be correlated with oncogene amplification.
C-myc oncogene amplification was compared with current prognosticators, including conventional staging parameters, patient age, and tumor site in 21 patients. At the time of surgical resection, normal mucosa and tumor specimens were obtained. Seventy-five percent of the patients who were entered in the study were classified as stage III or IV. Standard DNA extraction onto nitrocellulose paper and densitometer quantitation were performed. Amplification of C-myc ranged from