Oral cancer: reviewing the present understanding of its molecular mechanism and exploring the future directions for its effective management

The present review aims to analyze the information available regarding the molecular mechanisms of Oral Carcinogenesis and explore the future directions where the field of Cancer Biology is venturing. Oncologists have excellently followed the proverb "Necessity is the mother of Invention". The desire to be more precise and comprehensive in their studies has led to the invention of some of the most innovative techniques like laser capture microdissection, comparative genomic hybridization, microarrays, and protein chips etc. Various Biotech companies and Cancer Institutes are on a hunt for anti-cancer drugs and molecular markers for cancers. These revolutionary approaches and the new breed of Oncologists have made the field very exciting and have generated the hope that finally the war against cancer would be won. In the end it is urged that the lead taken in other cancers like colon, breast, leukemia will be emulated in oral cancer. This is expected to provide a molecular blueprint for HNSCC, thus helping to identify suitable markers for the early detection of pre-neoplastic lesions, as well as novel targets for its pharmacological intervention. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.