Advances in nanomaterials for the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancers:A review

Nanomaterials(NMs)have increasingly been used for the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancers(HNCs)over the past decade.HNCs can easily infiltrate surrounding tissues and form distant metastases,meaning that most patients with HNC are diagnosed at an advanced stage and often have a poor prognosis.Since NMs can be used to deliver various agents,including imaging agents,drugs,genes,vaccines,radiosensitisers,and photosensitisers,they play a crucial role in the development of novel technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of HNCs.Indeed,NMs have been reported to enhance delivery efficiency and improve the prognosis of patients with HNC by allowing targeted delivery,controlled release,responses to stimuli,and the delivery of multiple agents.In this review,we consider recent advances in NMs that could be used to improve the diagnosis,treatment,and prognosis of patients with HNC and the potential for future research.

Antibiofilm peptides against biofilms on titanium and hydroxyapatite surfaces

Biofilms are the main challenges in the treatment of common oral diseases such as caries,gingival and endodontic infection and periimplantitis.Oral plaque is the origin of microbes colonizing in the form of biofilms on hydroxyapatite(tooth)and titanium(dental implant)surfaces.In this study,hydroxyapatite(HA)and titanium(Ti)disks were introduced,and their surface morphology was both qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by a scanning electron microscope(SEM)and atomic force microscope(AFM).The average roughness of Ti disks(77.6±18.3 nm)was less than that of HA(146.1±38.5 nm)(p<0.05).Oral multispecies biofilms which were cultured on Ti and HA disks for 6 h and three weeks were visualized by SEM.We investigated the ability of two new antibiofilm peptides,DJK-5 and 1018,to induce killing of bacteria in oral multispecies biofilms on Ti and HA disks.A 6-h treatment by DJK-5 and 1018(2 or 10μg/mL)significantly reduced biomass of the multispecies biofilms on both Ti and HA disks.DJK-5 was able to kill more bacteria(40.4–75.9%)than 1018(30.4–67.0%)on both surfaces(p<0.05).DJK-5 also led to a more effective killing of microbes after a 3-min treatment of 3-day-old and 3-week-old biofilms on Ti and HA surfaces,compared to peptide 1018 and chlorhexidine(p<0.05).No significant difference was found in the amount of biofilm killing between Ti and HA surfaces.Both peptide DJK-5 and 1018 may potentially be used as effective antibiofilm agents in clinical dentistry.

Treatment of gingival hyperplasia induced by cyclosporine A

The clinical therapy for cyclosporine A(CsA)-induced gingival hyperplasia(GH)and the pathological changes in hyperplastic gingival tissues were investigated.Nine cases of CsA-induced GH after renal transplantation were subjected to periodontal non-surgical treatment and surgical treatment and were followed up.Gingival index(GI),dental plaque index(PLI)and GH degree(GHD)at different time points were measured.Under light and elec-tron microscopy,the pathological changes in hyperplastic gingival tissues were observed.The CsA concentrations in gingival tissues and blood were determined by using fluor-escence polarization immunoassay with TDxFLx monoclo-nal antibody.The results showed that GI,PLI and GHD in patients with GH declined after periodontal treatment.Two patients suffered from different degrees of GH during the 6 months to 54 months post-transplantation.Under trans-mission electron microscopy,fibroblasts in the hyperplastic gingival tissues were enlarged,cytoplasmic rough endoplas-mic reticula were abundant and expanded slightly,and a few fibroblasts with early apoptotic changes were seen.The concentrations of CsA in hyperplastic gingival tissues were from 351.00 to 1345.47 ng/mL,which were significantly higher than in the blood of the same patients taken at the same time points.It was concluded that GI and PLI declined after periodontal treatment in combination with surgical treatment in patients taking CsA for a long time,but in some patients,GH recurred.The fact that the con-centration of CsA in hyperplastic gingival tissues is higher than in blood awaits further studies.