Head and Neck Cancer: An Example for the Role of Chemokine Receptors in Tumor Progression and Metastasis

Despite ongoing advances in cancer therapy, a large number of patients are still afflicted with metastatic disease, the most lethal aspect of human cancer. Thus, understanding the factors that promote tumor metastasis is a critical area in cancer research. Recent findings demonstrate that tumor cells adopt chemokine receptor-mediated pathways from leukocytes to perform organ-specific metastasis. Here, we summarize recent advances in head and neck cancer (HNC) and describe the role of chemokine receptors in tumor progression and metastasis.