Objective: To screen out a set of candidate genes which could help to determine whether patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma(HSCC) could benefit from docetaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil(TPF)induction chemotherapy.Methods: Gene-expression profiles in 12 TPF-sensitive patients were compared to 9 resistant controls by microarray analysis. Subsequently, expression levels of potential biomarkers in chemosensitive cell line Fa Du after TPF treatment were observed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(q RT-PCR).Results: Through microarray analysis, 1,579 differentially expressed genes were identified, of which 815 were up-regulated in TPF chemotherapy-responsive tissues whereas 764 were down-regulated. Gene ontology(GO)analysis suggested these genes participating in physiological processes including transcription and its regulation,cellular signal transduction and metabolic process. Additionally, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) database revealed that MAPK and Jat/STAT signaling pathways occupied important roles in TPF chemotherapeutic sensitivity. Moreover, in vitro cell culture experiments revealed the expression alternations of IL-6, MAPK14, JUN, CDK5 and CAMK2 A exposed to TPF treatment by q RT-PCR, whilst providing an insight into the mechanism underlying TPF chemotherapeutic response in HSCC.Conclusions: These results provided a battery of genes related to TPF chemotherapeutic sensitivity and might act as molecular targets in HSCC treatment. Moreover, these candidate biomarkers could contribute to HSCC individualized treatment. Objective: To screen out a set of candidate genes which could help determine whether patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HSCC) could benefit from docetaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (TPF) induction chemotherapy. Methods: Gene-expression profiles in 12 TPF -sensitive patients were compared to 9 resistant controls by microarray analysis. Expression levels of potential biomarkers in chemosensitive cell line Fa Du after TPF treatment were observed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Through microarray analysis of 1,579 differentially expressed genes were identified, of which 815 were up-regulated in TPF chemotherapy-responsive tissues and 764 were down-regulated. Gene ontology (GO) analysis suggested these genes incorporated in physiological processes including transcription and its regulation, cellular signal transduction and metabolic process. Additionally, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database revealed that MAPK and Jat / STAT signaling pathways occupy important roles in TPF chemotherapeutic sensitivity. Moreover, in vitro cell culture experiments revealed the expression alternations of IL-6, MAPK14, JUN, CDK5 and CAMK2 A exposed to TPF treatment by q RT-PCR, including providing insight into the mechanism underlying TPF chemotherapeutic response in HSCC.Conclusions: These results provided a battery of genes related to TPF chemotherapeutic sensitivity and might act as molecular targets in HSCC treatment. Moreover, these candidate biomarkers could contribute to HSCC individualized treatment.