Rna-Seq Identified A Novel Functional Met Fusion In Head And Neck Cancer 5-8f Cell Line

The mortality of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has remained nearly unchanged for the past two decades. Deepening our understanding of genomic alterations and their influence on biological function of HNSCC cells will help develop effective and personalized treatment. In present study, paired-end whole-transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed across 8 HNSCC cell lines. A novel MET fusion, CAPZA2-MET fusion, was identified by fusion analysis with FusionMap software and validated by nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Sanger sequencing in HNSCC 5-8F cell line. 5-8F cells harboring this fusion were very sensitive to tivantinib, a specific small molecular inhibitor to MET kinase, demonstrating that this novel MET fusion may serve as a potential therapeutic target for HNSCC patients.