Head and neck cancers include a large and heterogeneous group of tumors with a very variable prognosis. These tumors arise from the squamous epithelial lining of the oral cavity, oropharynx, nasopharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx, but they include also lesions that arise from other anatomical sites, including the salivary glands, sinuses, thyroid, skin, and orbit.

The molecular mechanisms associated with the pathogenesis and evolution of these diseases are poorly understood, although some recent indications, from gene expression profiling studies, suggested a series of well-characterized and new biomarkers able to diagnose and predict behaviour and sensitivity to treatment of head and neck cancers.

The expression analysis of these biomarkers associated with histomorphological data could then provide the oncologists with the opportunity to create proper stratification of patients for customized therapies.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Molecular alterations in thyroid cancer
• Molecular alterations in salivary gland tumors
• Molecular alterations in tumors of the parathyroid glands
• Molecular alterations in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)
• Molecular alterations of soft tissue tumors/ sarcomas of the head and neck
• Extranodal lymphomas in head and neck district
• Detection of known biological targets for therapeutic stratification of head and neck tumor patients
• HPV as predictive marker in head and neck tumors
• Current therapeutic options and new potential therapeutic targets for head and neck tumors
• Detection of diagnostic/prognostic/predictive markers in fine needle aspiration material of head and neck tumors
• Detection of prognostic and predictive biomarkers in plasma/serum and saliva of head and neck tumors patients