Abstract

A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON ORAL CANCER AND ITS TREATMENT

Payal N. Khandait*, Swati J. Tembhurne and Tikesh R. Agrawal

ABSTRACT

Oral cavity cancer (OSCC) may be commonly known as a cancer of the surfaces of mucosal like lips, oral tongue, buccal mucosa, the floor of the mouth, lower and upper gingiva, hard palate, and retromolar trigone, etc. Despite promising advancements in the conventional therapeutic approaches currently available for patients with oral cancer, many drawbacks are still to be addressed; surgical resection leads to permanent disfigurement, altered sense of self, and debilitating physiological consequences, while chemo- and radio-therapies result in significant toxicities, all affecting patient wellbeing and quality of life. Thus, primary radiotherapy ± chemotherapy is usually reserved for Patients unable to tolerate or who are otherwise unsuited for surgery. On the other hand, brachytherapy may be considered as a sole modality for early small primary tumor. This review confers current knowledge on the diverse drug delivery methods, potential carriers (e.g., polymeric, inorganic, and combinational nanoparticles; nanolipids; hydrogels; exosomes) and anticancer targeted approaches for oral squamous cell carcinoma treatment, New trends have recently emerged in the OSCC patient profile including younger patients (more than 50 years), particularly those with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive tumors a steady change in the OSCC sex ratio with a worrisome increase in OSCC incidence and mortality in females In general, the latter is more commonly reserved for cases where surgery may be problematic.

Keywords: Radiotherapy, chemo radiotherapy, oral cavity cancer, treatment. Targeted therapies; drug delivery systems