Necroptosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: characterization of clinicopathological relevance and in vitro cell model

Necroptosis is a recently discovered form of programmed cell death (PCD) having necrotic-like morphology. However, its presence and potential impact with respect to head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are still unknown. The aim of this study was to reveal the necroptosis status and its clinicopathological relevance in HNSCC and to establish an in vitro model. We first analyzed the level of p-MLKL, MLKL, and tumor necrosis in HNSCC patient tissues as well as their correlation with clinicopathological features. Results showed that approximately half of the tumor necrosis can be attributed to necroptosis, and the extent of necroptosis is an independent prognostic marker for patient’s overall survival and progression-free survival. Then we established and thoroughly verified an in vitro model of necroptosis in two HNSCC cell lines using combined treatment of TNF-α, Smac mimetic and zVAD-fmk (TSZ). At last, we adopted this model and demonstrated that necroptosis can promote migration and invasion of HNSCC cells by releasing damage-associated molecular patterns. In conclusion, our study unveiled the necroptotic status in HNSCC for the first time and provided a novel in vitro model of necroptosis in two HNSCC cell lines. In addition, our results indicated that necroptosis may be a potential cancer promoter in HNSCC. This study may serve as the foundation for future researches of necroptosis in HNSCC.