An overview of oral carcinogenesis

Abstract

Cancer, a life-threatening global burden, is characterized by clonality, autonomy, anaplasia, invasion, and metastasis. Each and every year, the incidence of cancer is increasing worldwide. Most of the cancers arise due to changes in the lifestyle, including tobacco, smoking, and alcohol abuse. Although 100 different types of cancers were reported so far worldwide, oral cancer, skin cancer, mammary cancer, lung cancer, and cervical cancer are the most predominant cancers. Cancer of the oral cavity remains life-threatening disease for more than 50% of the newly diagnosed patients. Lack of awareness, delay in diagnosis, and patient's delay are attributed to the high incidence of oral cancer, despite easy physical examination of the oral cavity. Moreover, the survival outcome of oral cancer patients was not drastically improved despite recent advancement in the treatment of oral cancers. The present review presents the epidemiology and etiology of oral cancer in detail. Furthermore, the biochemical and molecular changes occurring in oral carcinogenesis are also explored. The chemopreventive agents that are evaluated against experimental carcinogenesis are also briefly summarized.