Role of Oral Microbiology in Oral Cancer: Pathogenesis and Biomarkers

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma is part of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma which is the ultimate cause of morbidity and mortality in cancer. The alteration of microbial community in the saliva might act as a helpful marker for the prediction, detection and prognosis oral cancer, particularly the transition of cancer precursor lesion. There are three mechanisms of action of oral microbiota in cancer pathogenesis; chronic inflammation from stimulation of the bacteria, cellular proliferation and apoptosis inhibition, and also carcinogenic substances that produced by microorganisms. Changes in the composition of microbiota could therefore have the potential to be used as a significant oral biomarker to predict the pathological transition from oral epithelial precursor lesion to cancer, especially for Indonesian people who have so many oral habits due to different cultures.Keywords: apoptosis inhibition, cellular proliferation, microorganism, oral cancer, oral squamous cell carcinoma