Integrating Cutting-Edge Methods to Oral Cancer Screening, Analysis, and Prognosis.

Oral cancer (OC) has become a significant barrier to health worldwide due to its high morbidity and mortality rates. OC is among the most prevalent types of cancer that affect the head and neck region, and the overall survival rate at 5 years is still around 50%. Moreover, it is a multifactorial malignancy instigated by genetic and epigenetic variabilities, and molecular heterogeneity makes it a complex malignancy.

Role of aberrant glycosylation enzymes in oral cancer progression.

Background: Carcinogenesis, a multistep process involves sequential changes during neoplastic transformation. The various hallmarks of cancer aid in cell survival, proliferation, and dissemination. Aberrant glycosylation, a recently defined hallmark of cancer, is influenced by glycosylation enzymes during carcinogenesis.

Glycosylation: a hallmark of cancer?

The hallmarks of cancer are characterized by functional capabilities that allow cancer cells to survive, proliferate and disseminate during the multistep tumorigenesis. Cancer being a cellular disease, changes in cellular glycoproteins play an important role in malignant transformation and cancer progression. The present review summarizes various studies that depicted correlation of glycosylation with tumor initiation, progression and metastasis, which are helpful in early diagnosis, disease monitoring and prognosis.

Sialylation: an Avenue to Target Cancer Cells.

Tumorigenesis and metastasis are frequently associated with altered structure and expression of oligosaccharides on cell surface glycoproteins and glycolipids. The expression of sialylated glycoconjugates has been shown to change during development, differentiation, disease and oncogenic transformation. Abnormal sialylation in cancer cell is a distinctive feature associated with malignant properties including invasiveness and metastatic potential.

VEGFA isoforms play a vital role in oral cancer progression.

Angiogenesis plays an important role in tumor growth and prognostication. A key angiogenesis stimulator is vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The present investigation aimed to study contribution of VEGFA isoforms in oral cancer progression.

Salivary glyco-sialylation changes monitors oral carcinogenesis.

Alterations in cell membrane glycosylation play important role in oral carcinogenesis. The present study evaluated salivary sialylation changes i.e.

Prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus type 16 and 18 in oral and cervical cancers in population from Gujarat, West India.

Background: Oral and cervical cancers are major malignancies in men and women, respectively, in India. This study evaluated occurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 and 18 infections in oral and cervical cancers to estimate HPV-associated burden of these cancers in the population from Gujarat, West India.

Methods: A total of 97 malignant oral carcinoma tissues and 52 cervical carcinoma tissues were analyzed by type-specific PCR for the presence of HPV type 16 and 18 infections.

Association between p53 gene variants and oral cancer susceptibility in population from Gujarat, West India.

Background: p53 gene variants i.e. 16 bp duplication in intron 3, Arg72Pro in exon 4 and G>A in intron 6 have been reported to modulate susceptibility to various malignancies.

Evaluation of serum and salivary total sialic acid and α-l-fucosidase in patients with oral precancerous conditions and oral cancer.

Objectives: We compared serum and salivary total sialic acid/total protein (TSA/TP) ratios and α-l-fucosidase activity in patients with oral precancerous conditions (OPCs) and oral cancer to better understand the utility of saliva, in monitoring early changes occurring during oral cancer progression.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study of 100 oral cancer patients, 50 patients with OPC, and 100 controls was performed.

Results: Serum and salivary TSA/TP ratios and α-l-fucosidase activity were significantly higher in OPC and oral cancer patients compared to the controls.

A review on salivary genomics and proteomics biomarkers in oral cancer.

Oral cancer has emerged as an alarming public health problem with increasing incidence and mortality rates all over the world. Therefore, the implementation of newer screening and early detection approaches are of utmost importance which could reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with this disease. Sensitive and specific biomarkers for oral cancer are likely to be most effective for screening, diagnosis, staging and follow-up for this dreaded malignancy.

Glycoprotein electrophoretic patterns have potential to monitor changes associated with neoplastic transformation in oral cancer.

Alterations in glycoproteins, important cell surface constituents, have long been associated with various malignancies. The present investigation therefore explored the clinical significance of a glycoproteomics approach in patients with oral precancerous conditions (OPC) and patients with oral cancer. The study included 80 oral cancer patients, 50 patients with OPC, and 84 controls.