Vasculogenic mimicry in head and neck tumors: a narrative review

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the role and mechanism of vasculogenic mimicry (VM) and to provide reference for the further research of VM in head and neck tumors. BACKGROUND: Head and neck tumors are common in the clinic, and tumor metastasis is clinically difficult to treat. VM is another tumor blood supply mode that is different from angiogenesis and plays an important role in tumor growth, metastasis, and invasion. At present, studies on VM have mainly focused on breast cancer, melanoma, glioblastoma, and other cancers. With time, VM has become a hotspot in head and neck tumor research. METHODS: We searched published English literatures from 2015 to 2020 on PubMed. In this paper, we review the progress of VM in head and neck tumors from 7 different perspectives. VM has two distinct types, namely tubular type and patterned matrix type. VM is associated with high tumor grade, tumor progression, invasion, metastasis, and poor prognosis in patients with head and neck tumors. We discuss the recent studies on the effects of immune cells and Epstein-Barr virus on VM in head and neck tumors. Furthermore, we also summarize the molecular mechanism of VM formation in head and neck tumors. Finally, we discussed the possibility of VM-targeted therapy in the clinical treatment of head and neck tumors. CONCLUSIONS: VM plays a critical role in tumor invasion, metastasis, and poor prognosis in patients with head and neck tumors. There is potential for VM as a potential new antitumor target. VM has become a hotspot in head and neck tumor research.