Title:Oxidative Stress Based-Biomarkers in Oral Carcinogenesis: How Far Have We Gone?
Volume: 12
Issue: 6
Author(s): R. Hanafi, I. Anestopoulos, G. P. Voulgaridou, R. Franco, A. G. Georgakilas, D. Ziech, V. Malamou-Mitsi, A. Pappa and M. I. Panayiotidis
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), Oxidative Stress, Lipid Oxidation, DNA Oxidation, Protein Oxidation,
Oral Carcinogenesis, OSCC, Leukoplakia, Lichen Planus, Submucous Fibrosis, tobacco, infection, intraoral cancer, chemotherapy, radiotherapy
Abstract: Oral cancer accounts for 2-3% of all malignancies and according to the World Health Organization
(WHO) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide. On the other hand, “oxidative stress” implies a cellular state
whereby reactive oxygen species (ROS) production exceeds its metabolism resulting in excessive ROS
accumulation and overwhelmed cellular defenses. Such a state has been shown to be involved in the
multistage process of human carcinogenesis (including oral cancer) via many different mechanisms. Amongst
them are ROS-induced oxidative modifications on major cellular macromolecules like DNA, proteins and lipids
with the resulting byproducts being involved in the pathophysiology of human oral malignant and pre-malignant
lesions. Throughout this manuscript, we review the current state of knowledge on the role of these oxidativemodified
cellular byproducts in serving as reliable biomarkers for oral cancer detection, prognosis and
diagnosis.
