Bcl-2 targeted-therapy for the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Despite recent advances in treatment of head and neck cancer, survival has not improved as expected. Bcl-2 family proteins play important role in regulating apoptosis. Recently, newer molecules have been developed for inhibition of Bcl-2 related proteins. We, herein aim to discuss the importance of Bcl-2 family proteins to the development of head and neck cancer and how the targeted-therapy for inhibition of Bcl-2 and related proteins, based on new drugs and recent patents, could improve the efficacy of the systemic therapy.