Introduction: Oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) are conditions comprising of a variety of clinico pathological alterations with variable malignant transformation. Common OPMDs are leukoplakia, erythroplakia, oral lichen planus, and oral submucus fibrosis. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a common type of malignancy mostly preceded by OPMD which may show histopathological changes called oral epithelial dysplasia. When compared to other cancers, OSCC has a low five-year survival rate, which is roughly 20% when diagnosed at an advanced stage and up to 80% when discovered at an early stage. Lack of effective screening methods to identify OPMDs developing into malignancy is a major barrier for its early detection. Hence the need of biomarkers arose, and the current review looked at the role of various biomarkers in OPMDs for better screening, diagnosis, and prognosis.
Aim: To review the role of diagnostic and prognostic utility of various biomarkers reported in OPMDs.
Materials and methods: A comprehensive search of online databases including PUBMED, MEDLINE and SCOPUS were conducted to identify studies from published data between January 2013 to December 2022 (last 10 years) using key words “biomarkers in OPMDs”, “salivary biomarkers in OPMDs”, “biomarkers of epithelial mesenchymal transition”. Relevant data from 50 articles was tabulated based on the type of specimens used.
Result: A total of 134 studies from 50 articles were evaluated and 64 biomarkers were identified in tissues, 41 in saliva, 6 in blood, and 8 in cells cytology.
Conclusion: Biomarkers play a crucial role in identifying high risk individuals and assessing the progression of OPMDs towards malignancy. The use of biomarkers in clinical practice holds promise for enhancing the accuracy of diagnosis and better treatment approaches.