Clinical Diagnostic and Therapeutic Perspectives in Oral Cancer

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has had an overall survival rate of 50% the last forty years. Delays in diagnosis constitute the main reason for the high mortality rates, because patients present with advanced-stage disease that is characterized by high tumor burden and regional lymph nodes, often demanding advanced and expensive treatment modalities. As a result, prognosis can be refined by early detection of OSCC, with clinical examination, imaging, biopsy, and multidisciplinary tumor board reviews that recruit the optimal therapeutic modalities for each patient (surgery, systemic therapy, radiotherapy). Finally, cervical lymph node status is an important prognostic factor in patients with OSCC, often indicating elective or modified radical neck dissections, combined with a minimum five-year follow-up, avoiding recurrences.