University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna Inhibition of beta-catenin shows therapeutic potential in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in vitro Beta-catenin is known to be a vital component of the canonical Wnt signaling cascade, involved in the carcinogenesis of different solid tumors. We aimed to evaluate the effects of Beta-catenin inhibition in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in vitro. The small molecular compound MSAB was used to inhibit Wnt/Beta-catenin signaling in a human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive and HPV-negative cell line and its effects on cell proliferation, migration, colony formation, apoptosis, as well as radiosensitizing properties were assessed. Significant antineoplastic effects were observed in both cell lines. Interestingly, stronger anti-neoplastic and radiosensitizing effects were observed in the HPV-negative cell line, whereas stronger anti-migratory potential was detected in HPV-positive HNSCC cells. In conclusion, our findings suggest MSAB as a potential therapeutic agent for HNSCC. Further studies are warranted to unravel the mechanistic background of our findings. en TEXT article Human-Papillomavirus; International Head; Alcohol-Drinking; Pooled Analysis; E-Cadherin; Cancer; Smoking; Cigarette; Receptor; Tobacco 2022 2022 Maier, Tobias (Medical University Vienna) Brkic, Faris F (Medical University of Vienna) Kadletz-Wanke, Lorenz (Medical University of Vienna) Heiduschka, Gregor (Medical University of Vienna) Kenner, Lukas (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna / Medical University Vienna / Christian Doppler Laboratory for Applied Metabolomics ) Markus, Markus (Medical University of Vienna) Stoiber, Stefan (Medical University of Vienna / Christian Doppler Laboratory for Applied Metabolomics) Gurnhofer, Elisabeth (Medical University of Vienna) Springer