Abstract
Oral cavity carcinoma (OCC) remains an ongoing public health problem. Emerging nanotechnology provides alternative treatment approaches. This review covers the up-to-date literature in the human OCC treatment field. We explored the growing body of evidence to reveal novel and highly promising diagnostic and therapeutic applications of nanotechnology in this field. Various types of nanoparticles have been tested for applications in OCC. Imaging modalities in addition to nanocarriers are discussed. The encouraging contribution of lymphotropic nanoparticles contrast in the diagnosis of metastatic cervical lymph nodes needs to be confirmed. The development of the sentinel lymph node procedure and photodynamic therapy may lead to breakthrough therapies in order improve clinical outcomes and quality of life. In this perspective, cancer nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of OCC patients.
Highlights
Oral cavity carcinoma (OCC) alone accounts for 2.1% of all cancer cases and 1.8% of all cancer deaths among both males and females worldwide [1]
Authors reported tracer uptake in the submandibular gland, but it was distinguished as non-lymphatic tissue. Another single-institution clinical trial demonstrated that Near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging can successfully be used to detect draining lymph nodes in head and neck cancer patients [58]
Since the development of nanotechnology decades ago, considerable progresses have been made in several important oncologic aspects, including OCC management
Summary
Oral cavity carcinoma (OCC) alone accounts for 2.1% of all cancer cases and 1.8% of all cancer deaths among both males and females worldwide [1]. Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment [3]. Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) or adiuvant radiotherapy (RT) is usually recommended in case of locally advanced disease (pT3-4, pN2-3), positive surgical margins, perineural invasion and lymphovascular invasion [3]. Despite the state of the art includes less invasive surgical techniques, new reconstructive modalities and the intensity modulated RT (IMRT) technique with daily 1.8–2 Gy fractions five fractions per week, combination of these therapies can result in important morbidity [4,5]. To overcome the limitations of standard multimodal approach, over the last years, the rapid development of cancer nanotechnology promises new opportunities in OCC management. We describe the use of nanotechnology for clinical therapeutic purposes developed to meet the demands for increased survival outcomes and decreased toxicity of treatment. The overall purpose is to offer further understanding on the development of nanotechnology in OCC scenario
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