Oral Cancer: Prophylaxis, Etiopathogenesis and Treatment

Oral cancer contributes to approximately 3-10% of all cancer mortality worldwide, and its incidence is continuously increasing due to environmental conditions and harmful modern lifestyles. In association with hereditary predisposition, chronic inflammation, and infectious diseases, these factors raise the frequency of oral cavity malignancies. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) represents 90% of oral neoplasia; it is the sixth most frequent malignancy in the world, with an overall 5-year survival rate below 50% due to its modest outcomes, late diagnosis, aggressive local invasiveness, recurrences, and metastases. OSCC belongs to the comprehensive group of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs), which affect the cell lining of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx. The local-regional recurrence rate for advanced carcinomas is over 50% despite the administration of multimodal therapy, and understanding the biology of HNSCCs is essential to ameliorate their prognosis. A major intervention involves extensive surgery associated with radio and chemotherapy. Advancements in cancer immunotherapy have not yet established the specific mechanisms by which immune cells influence tumor progression and immune evasion, and oral cancers continue to respond inadequately to the current treatment protocols. The above-mentioned aspects underline this Special Issue, which has brought together the most recent research on molecular mechanisms implied in the prophylaxis, etiopathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, evolution, and prognosis of oral cancer.