Recently the
Aurora-Kinases (Aurk) moved into the focus as novel disease related
biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Elevated
Aurora-Kinase expression has been found in a number of
malignancies, amongst them
HNSCC. For
esophageal cancer, the
AurkA Phe31-Ile polymorphism has previously been associated with
tumor progression. Here we evaluated the treatment efficiency of
HNSCC cell radiation as a function of
Aurora-Kinases in
HNSCC cell lines. Moreover, we investigated a potential sensitization to radiation by a cell treatment with the inhibitors
Alisertib,
Barasertib,
Docetaxel and
VX-680. In parallel the radiation dependent expression and regulation of
AurkA/B, p-Akt Ser 473 and
Survivin and the
AurkA polymorphism were investigated in primary
tumor samples. We identified a high-risk collective with elevated
AurkA and
Survivin or
AurkA and p-Akt Ser 473 expression. High
AurkA, AurkB, and p-Akt Ser 473 expression was exclusively found in the heterozygous cell line. We found a polymorphism dependent sensitivity to treatments with different Aurk inhibitors: The homozygous cell line UD-SCC-5 could be sensitized to radiation with
Docetaxel in combination with any of the
Aurora-Kinase inhibitors. In contrast, treatment with
Docetaxel or radiation did not enhance the inhibitory effect of
Barasertib or
VX-680 in the heterozygous SAS cell line. These findings indicate that the
Aurora-Kinase A Phe31-Ile-polymorphism is a possibly predictive factor for response to radiation in combination with
Docetaxel and
Aurora-Kinase inhibitor treatments.