Biomarkers in tongue cancer: understanding the molecular basis and their clinical implications

Abstract

Tongue cancer, one of the most common malignant cancers of the oral cavity, still affects human health worldwide due to its disappointing survival rates, despite significant developments in its multimodality treatment. The predominant cause of death in patients with tongue cancer is the high occurrence of invasion to surrounding tissues, lymph and distant metastasis, and recurrence. Due to the limited value of conventional predictive and prognostic factors and the uniformity of treatment strategies, several patients are still over- or under-treated, with significantly personal and socioeconomic impact. This review focuses on some promising predictive and prognostic biomarkers of tongue cancer and their actual/potential clinical implications, in order to provide clinicians with useful information for the improvement of early diagnostic/prognostic evaluation and management of patients with tongue cancer.

A review of microsampling techniques and their social impact

“…For oral diseases, saliva sample has been reported for diagnosing oral cancer, fungal disease and virus infection (Zheng et al 2010; Ghannoum et al 2010; Andrews et al 2009). Qureishi et al reported diagnosing HPV in patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) with the aid of saliva sample(Qureishi et al 2018).…”

Saliva as a Diagnostic Fluid

“…adenocarcinomas, lymphomas, sarcomas, verrucous or mucoepidermoid carcinomas, malignant melanoma, and Kaposi’s sarcoma), accounting for more than 90% of clinical cases and ranking among the top ten types of cancers worldwide [77]. However, oral cancers have also been reported with less frequency in the oral mucosa, tongue, pharynx, lips, gums, palate, salivary glands, tonsils and sinuses.…”

Epithelial‐Mesenchymal Transition: Clinical Implications for Nodal Metastasis and Prognosis of Tongue Cancer

“…The predominant cause of death in patients with tongue cancer is invasion to surrounding tissues, lymph and distant metastasis, and recurrence. In particular, tongue cancer is characterized by a high potential for regional metastasis, even in the early stages, which means that appropriate lymph node management is of paramount importance in the treatment of this disease 1‐4 . The ability to predict tumor lymph node metastasis and prognosis can improve the patient outcome 5‐12 .…”