Abstract
With nearly 1,500,000 new patients diagnosed every year in the USA, cancer poses a considerable challenge to healthcare today. Oral cancer is responsible for a sizeable portion of deaths due to cancer, primarily because it is diagnosed at a late stage when the prognosis is poor. Current methods for diagnosing oral cancer need to be augmented by better early detection, monitoring and screening modalities. A new approach is needed that provides real-time, accurate, noninvasive diagnosis. The results of early clinical trials using in vivo optical coherence tomography for the diagnosis of oral dysplasia and malignancy are encouraging.
Highlights
According to the American Cancer Society, 1,437,180 patients were diagnosed with cancer in the year 2008, with 35,310 being oral cancers [1]
Accounting for 96% of all oral cancers, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is usually preceded by dysplasia presenting as white epithelial lesions on the oral mucosa
Of all oral cancer cases documented by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, advanced lesions outnumbered localized lesions by more than 2:1
Summary
According to the American Cancer Society, 1,437,180 patients were diagnosed with cancer in the year 2008, with 35,310 being oral cancers [1]. Despite significant advances in cancer treatment, early detection of cancer and its curable precursors remains the best way to ensure patient survival and quality of life. In anatomical sites, such as the oral cavity, early recognition of malignancy is problematic owing to the frequent lack of gross signs or obvious symptoms. A modality for the direct, noninvasive early detection, diagnosis and monitoring of oral dysplasia and malignancy as well as the screening of high-risk populations is urgently required to identify treatment needs at early, more treatable stages of pathological development
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