Paclitaxel induces human KOSC3 oral cancer cell apoptosis through caspase pathways

Background:Paclitaxel is a compound derived from Pacific yew bark that induces various cancer cell apoptosis.However,whether it also has anticancer activities in KOSC3 cells,an oral cancer cell line,is unclear.Methods:3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide,flow cytometry,and western blotting assays were carried out to assess cell viability,subG1 phase of the cell cycle,and apoptosis-related protein expression,respectively.Results:Ourfindings indicate that paclitaxel could inhibit cell viability and increase the expression of apoptotic markers,including plasma membrane blebbing and the cleavage of poly ADP-ribose polymerase in KOSC3 cells.Also,the treatment with paclitaxel remarkably elevated the percentage of the subG1 phase in KOSC3 cells.In addition,treatment with a pan-caspase inhibitor could recover paclitaxel-inhibited cell viability.Moreover,caspase-8,caspase-9,caspase-7,and BH3 interacting domain death agonist(Bid)were activated in paclitaxel-treated KOSC3 cells.Conclusions:Paclitaxel induced apoptosis through caspase cascade in KOSC3 cells.

ExosomalmicroRNA let-7c-5p enhances cell malignant characteristics by inhibiting TAGLN in oral cancer

Background:Oral cancer,a malignancy that is prevalent worldwide,is often diagnosed at an advanced stage.MicroRNAs(miRNAs)in circulating exosomes have emerged as promising cancer biomarkers.The role of miRNA let-7c-5p in oral cancer remains underexplored,and its potential involvement in tumorigenesis warrants comprehensive investigation.Methods:Serum samples from 30 patients with oral cancer and 20 healthy controls were used to isolate exosomes and quantify their RNA content.Isolation of the exosomes was confirmed through transmission electron microscopy.Quantitative PCR was used to assess the miRNA profiles.The effects of let-7c-5p and TAGLN overexpression on oral cancer cell viability,migration,and invasion were analyzed via CCK-8 and Transwell assays.Moreover,we conducted mRNA sequencing of exosomal RNA from exosomes overexpressing let-7c-5p to delineate the gene expression profile and identify potential let-7c-5p target genes.Results:let-7c-5p was upregulated in serumderived exosomes of patients with oral cancer.Overexpression of let-7c-5p in the TCA8113 and CAL-27 cell lines enhanced their proliferative,migratory,and invasive capacities,and overexpression of let-7c-5p cell-derived exosomes promoted oral cancer cell invasiveness.Exosomal mRNA sequencing revealed 2,551 differentially expressed genes between control cell-derived exosomes and overexpressed let-7c-5p cell-derived exosomes.We further identified TAGLN as a direct target of let-7c-5p,which has been implicated in modulating the oncogenic potential of oral cancer cells.Overexpression of TAGLN reverses the promoting role of let-7c-5p on oral cancer cells.Conclusion:Our findings highlight the role of exosomal let-7c-5p in enhancing oral cancer cell aggressiveness by downregulating TAGLN expression,highlighting its potential as a diagnostic and therapeutic strategy.

Advancing oral cancer care:Insights from Tongluo Jiedu prescription

This editorial highlights the study which investigated the potential of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)as an adjunctive therapy in oral cancer management.The study included 80 patients with oral cancer to evaluate the effects of the Tongluo Jiedu prescription on inflammatory stress markers,peripheral blood T-cell subsets,and overall immune function.The results indicated that Tongluo Jiedu substantially enhances immune function and reduces oxidative stress,thereby aiding in patient recovery and potentially minimizing treatment-related complications.This editorial discusses the broader implications of these findings for oral cancer care and emphasizes the importance of integrating TCM principles into modern oncology practices.

Effects of Tongluo Jiedu prescription on immune function and oxidative stress in patients with oral cancer

BACKGROUND Oral cancer,which is caused by mucous membrane variation,represents a prevalent malignant tumor in the oral and maxillofacial region,posing a significant threat to patients’lives and safety.While surgical intervention stands as a cornerstone treatment for oral cancer patients,it carries the risk of incomplete treatment or high rates of postoperative recurrence.Hence,a multifaceted approach incorporating diverse treatment modalities is essential to enhance patient prognosis.AIM To analyze the application effect of Tongluo Jiedu prescription as adjuvant therapy and its influence on patient prognosis in patients with oral cancer.METHODS Eighty oral cancer patients in our hospital were selected and divided into the observation group and control group by a random number table.The control group was treated with continuous arterial infusion chemotherapy of cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil.The observation group was additionally given Tongluo Jiadu prescription.The inflammatory stress level,peripheral blood T-cell subsets,and immune function of the two groups were subsequently observed.SPSS 21.0 was used for data analysis.RESULTS The observation group demonstrated lower levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein,and a higher level of tumor necrosis factor in comparison to the control group.After treatment,the immune function in the observation group was significantly better than in the control group.CONCLUSION Tongluo Jiedu prescription can improve the immune function and oxidative stress level of patients with oral cancer and accelerate the recovery process.

Research Progress on the Application of Nanomaterials in the Treatment of Oral Cancer

Oral cancer is a complex pathological process caused by a combination of exogenous factors represented by oncoviruses and endogenous factors represented by immune damage,individual DNA damage,and repair.Targeted treatment for oral cancer is based on the perspective of molecular genetics,which can not only reduce toxicity and increase efficacy,but also improve the quality of life of patients.This is the bottleneck that clinical oral cancer treatment needs to break through the most.Nanomaterials can exhibit a unique large molecular surface area,with relatively high surface reactivity and multiple surface active centers,resulting in strong adsorption capacity in molecular metabolism.There is a certain foundation in its application in the field of biology,but it has good tumor cytotoxicity and inhibition of proliferation in the treatment of oral cancer.This study reviews the application of nanomaterials in tumor prevention,treatment,and other fields,providing new ideas for the future treatment of this disease.

Unraveling the therapeutic mechanisms of myristic acid and luteolin 7-rutinoside in oral cancer: insights from network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis

Background:The compound Luteolin-7-rutinoside(L7R)is a flavone derivative of luteolin,predominantly identified in plant species belonging to the families Asteraceae.Conversely,Myristic acid is characterized by its structure as a 14-carbon,unsaturated fatty acid.In this investigation,we endeavor to elucidate the putative mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of Myristic Acid and Luteolin 7-rutinoside in the context of oral cancer treatment,employing network pharmacology coupled with molecular docking methodologies.Methods:The protein targets of Myristic Acid and Luteolin 7-rutinoside were identified through a search on the Swiss Target Database.Subsequently,a compound-target network was constructed using Cytoscape 3.9.1.Targets associated with OC were retrieved from the OMIM and GeneCards databases.The overlap between compound targets and OC-related targets was determined,and the resulting shared targets were subjected to protein-protein interaction(PPI)network analysis using the STRING database.Additionally,gene ontology(GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)enrichment analyses were conducted on the identified targets.Molecular docking were performed to investigate the interactions between the core target and the active compound.Results:The component target network comprises 103 nodes and 102 edges.Among the proteins in the protein-protein interaction(PPI)network,those with higher degrees are TNF,PPARG,and TP53.Analysis through Gene Ontology(GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathways indicates that the treatment of OC with Myristic Acid and Luteolin 7-rutinoside primarily involves the regulation of miRNA transcription and inflammatory response.The identified signaling pathways include Pathways in cancer,PPAR signaling pathway,EGFR signaling pathway,and TNF signaling pathway.Molecular docking studies reveal that Luteolin 7-rutinoside and Myristic acid exhibit higher affinity towards TNF,PPARG,TP53,and EGFR.Conclusion:This study reveals the potential molecular mechanism of Myristic Acid and Luteolin 7-rutinoside in the treatment of oral cancer,and provides a reference for subsequent basic research.

Sailfish Optimization with Deep Learning Based Oral Cancer Classification Model

Recently,computer aided diagnosis(CAD)model becomes an effective tool for decision making in healthcare sector.The advances in computer vision and artificial intelligence(AI)techniques have resulted in the effective design of CAD models,which enables to detection of the existence of diseases using various imaging modalities.Oral cancer(OC)has commonly occurred in head and neck globally.Earlier identification of OC enables to improve survival rate and reduce mortality rate.Therefore,the design of CAD model for OC detection and classification becomes essential.Therefore,this study introduces a novel Computer Aided Diagnosis for OC using Sailfish Optimization with Fusion based Classification(CADOC-SFOFC)model.The proposed CADOC-SFOFC model determines the existence of OC on the medical images.To accomplish this,a fusion based feature extraction process is carried out by the use of VGGNet-16 and Residual Network(ResNet)model.Besides,feature vectors are fused and passed into the extreme learning machine(ELM)model for classification process.Moreover,SFO algorithm is utilized for effective parameter selection of the ELM model,consequently resulting in enhanced performance.The experimental analysis of the CADOC-SFOFC model was tested on Kaggle dataset and the results reported the betterment of the CADOC-SFOFC model over the compared methods with maximum accuracy of 98.11%.Therefore,the CADOC-SFOFC model has maximum potential as an inexpensive and non-invasive tool which supports screening process and enhances the detection efficiency.

Low-dose immunotherapy as a potentiator to increase the response with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy in oral cancers

Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy(NACT)is utilized in locally advanced oral cancers to reduce the tumor burden and downstage the tumor to be amenable for definitive surgical management.Its long-term results compared to upfront surgical resection was not encouraging.Immunotherapy has now been used not only in recurrence and metastatic setting but also in the locally advanced tumor management regimens.The purpose of this concept paper is to bring forward the rationale to use a fixed low-dose immunotherapy agent as a potentiator to the standard NACT regimen and recommend their future investigation in oral cancer management.

Therapeutic potential of curcumin and its nanoformulations for treating oral cancer

The global incidence of oral cancer has steadily increased in recent years and is associated with high morbidity and mortality.Oral cancer is the most common cancer in the head and neck region,and is predominantly of epithelial origin(i.e.squamous cell carcinoma).Oral cancer treatment modalities mainly include surgery with or without radiotherapy and chemotherapy.Though proven effective,chemotherapy has significant adverse effects with possibilities of tumor resistance to anticancer drugs and recurrence.Thus,there is an imperative need to identify suitable anticancer therapies that are highly precise with minimal side effects and to make oral cancer treatment effective and safer.Among the available adjuvant therapies is curcumin,a plant polyphenol isolated from the rhizome of the turmeric plant Curcuma longa.Curcumin has been demonstrated to have antiinfectious,antioxidant,anti-inflammatory,and anticarcinogenic properties.Curcumin has poor bioavailability,which has been overcome by its various analogues and nanoformulations,such as nanoparticles,liposome complexes,micelles,and phospholipid complexes.Studies have shown that the anticancer effects of curcumin are mediated by its action on multiple molecular targets,including activator protein 1,protein kinase B(Akt),nuclear factorκ-light-chainenhancer of activated B cells,mitogen-activated protein kinase,epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR)expression,and EGFR downstream signaling pathways.These targets play important roles in oral cancer pathogenesis,thereby making curcumin a promising adjuvant treatment modality.This review aims to summarize the different novel formulations of curcumin and their role in the treatment of oral cancer.

Oral cancer incidence and mortality in China, 2011

Objective： To descript the incidence and mortality rates of oral cancer among Chinese population in 2011, and provide valuable data for oral cancer prevention and research. Methods： Data from 177 population-based cancer registries distributed in 28 provinces were accepted for this study after evaluation based on quality control criteria, covering a total of 175,310,169 populations and accounting for 13.01% of the overall national population in 2011. Incidence and mortality rates were calculated by area, gender and age groups. The numbers of new cases and deaths were estimated using the 5-year age-specific cancer incidence/mortality rates and the corresponding populations. The Chinese population in 2000 and World Segi＇s population were used for age-standardized rates. Results： The estimate of new cases diagnosed with oral cancer was 39,450 including 26,160 males and 13,290 females. The overall crude incidence rate for oral cancer was 2.93/100,000. The age-standardized rates by China （ASRcN） population and by World population （ASRwld） were 2.22/100,000 and 2.17/100,000, respectively. Among subjects aged 0-74 years, the cumulative incidence rate was 0.25%. The estimated number of oral cancer deaths of China in 2011 was 16,933, including 11,794 males and 5,139 females. The overall crude mortality rate was 1.26/I00,000, accounting for 0.80% of all cancer deaths. The ASRcN and ASP^Id for mortality were 0.90/100,000 and 0.89/100,000, respectively. Among subjects aged 0-74 years, the cumulative mortality rate was 0.10%. The incidence and mortality rates of oral cancer were much higher in males and urban areas than in females and rural areas. In addition, the incidence and mortality rates were increased by the raising of ages. Conclusions： Results in the study may have important roles for oral cancer prevention and research. Although oral cancer burden of China is not high, we must pay attention to this malignancy as well. In addition, further researches need to be done for primary and secondary prevention research of oral cancer, especially for the high risk population.

Erianin inhibits oral cancer cell growth,migration,and invasion via the Nrf2/HO-1/GPX4 pathway

Objective:To evaluate the effect of erianin on the viability,migration,and invasion of KB cells and elucidate its underlying mechanisms.Methods:Cell Counting Kit-8,colony formation,wound healing,and Transwell assays were used to determine the proliferation,migration,and invasion of oral cancer KB cells.Furthermore,malondialdehyde(MDA)and glutathione(GSH)levels were determined.Fluorescent probes were used to detect changes in intracellular reactive oxygen species and iron ions.Additionally,the expressions of ferroptosis-related proteins,NF-E2-related factor 2(Nrf2),ferritin heavy chain 1(FTH1),heme oxygenase 1(HO-1),and glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4)were analyzed by Western blotting assays.Results:Erianin induced ferroptosis and inhibited the proliferation,migration,and invasion of KB cells.Moreover,erianin decreased GSH level,increased MDA level,elevated intracellular ROS and Fe2+contents,and downregulated the expression of the ferroptosis-related proteins Nrf2,HO-1,GPX4,and FTH1 in KB cells.These effects of erianin were effectively reversed by a ferroptosis inhibitor,ferrostatin-1.Conclusions:Erianin inhibits the proliferation,migration,and invasion of oral cancer cells and induces ferroptosis via the Nrf2/HO-1/GPX4 signaling pathway.Therefore,erianin may be a potential candidate for the treatment of oral cancer.

Significance of 125I radioactive seed implantation on growth differentiation factor and programmed death receptor-1 during treatment of oral cancer

BACKGROUND Oral cancer(OC)is the most common malignant tumor in the oral cavity,and is mainly seen in middle-aged and elderly men.At present,OC is mainly treated clinically by surgery or combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy;but recently,more and more studies have shown that the stress trauma caused by surgery and the side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy seriously affect the prognosis of patients.AIM To determine the significance of 125I radioactive seed implantation on growth differentiation factor 11(GDF11)and programmed death receptor-1(PD-1)during treatment of OC.METHODS A total of 184 OC patients admitted to The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University from May 2015 to May 2017 were selected as the research subjects for prospective analysis.Of these patients,89 who received 125I radioactive seed implantation therapy were regarded as the research group(RG)and 95 patients who received surgical treatment were regarded as the control group(CG).The clinical efficacy,incidence of adverse reactions and changes in GDF11 and PD-1 before treatment(T0),2 wk after treatment(T1),4 wk after treatment(T2)and 6 wk after treatment(T3)were compared between the two groups.RESULTS The efficacy and recurrence rate in the RG were better than those in the CG(P<0.05),while the incidence of adverse reactions and survival rate were not different.There was no difference in GDF11 and PD-1 between the two groups at T0 and T1,but these factors were lower in the RG than in the CG at T2 and T3(P<0.05).Using receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis,GDF11 and PD-1 had good predictive value for efficacy and recurrence(P<0.001).CONCLUSION 125I radioactive seed implantation has clinical efficacy and can reduce the recurrence rate in patients with OC.This therapy has marked potential in clinical application.The detection of GDF11 and PD-1 in patients during treatment showed good predictive value for treatment efficacy and recurrence in OC patients,and may be potential targets for future OC treatment.

A Candid Assessment of the Link between Oral Candida Containing Biofilms and Oral Cancer

An association between Candida and oral cancer has long been discussed in the literature and in particular Candida albicans has been proposed to play a significant role in the development of oral cancer. Although this organism is a common member of the oral mucosa and can cause a variety of oral mucosal lesions, the exact mechanisms by which C. albicans potentially causes the development of malignant disease still require much research. We have undertaken an extensive literature search to understand pathogenicity of C. albicans, including its virulence factors, its interactions with the host immune, how a dysregulation of the immune response can result in malignancy, and how a potential C. albicans specific cytokine response may be involved in oral carcinogenesis. We present here a candid assessment of the role of Candida in oral carcinogenesis and a hypothetical model about how this may occur. Finally, we present potential future research which is necessary to elucidate this role.

Isolation and Antibiotic-Resistant Pattern of Opportunistic Infectious Microbes from the Infected Sites of Oral Cancer Patients Compared to That of Healthy People Oral Microbiota

Introduction: Oral cancer is the third most prominent type of cancer in Bangladesh. During or after oral cancer treatment, immune-compromised cancer patients may be susceptible to an infection by multi-drug-resistant opportunistic microbes. This study aims to identify the prevalent microorganisms from the infected site of oral cancer patients and observe their antibiotic susceptibility pattern. Materials and Methods: Clinical samples were collected from the infected sites of oral cancer patients and healthy people. The swabs collected were placed on nutrient agar slant, then incubated for 24 hours at 37ºC. Bacteria from the slant were inoculated in several selective media (Mannitol Salt Agar Media, KF Streptococcus Agar media, Cetrimide Agar, Eosin Methylene Blue Agar). Several biochemical tests identified opportunistic microorganisms. Finally, the antibiotic susceptibility test was performed by the Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. Results: The study found that 65.4% of microbes isolated from the patients’ oral cavities were Gram-negative bacteria, and 34.6% were Gram-positive bacteria. Among the patient group isolates (n = 55), the most prevalent organism was Pseudomonas spp. (30;54.54%). Others were Klebsiella spp. (27;49.09%), Staphylococcus spp. (24;43.63%), E. coli (14;25.45%), Streptococcus spp. (14;25.45%), Proteus spp. (12;21.8%) and Enterococcus spp. (6;10.90%). Both Gram-positive and Gram-negative microbes from the patient group have shown high resistance to the commonly used antibiotics. In the control group (n = 50), the most prevalent organism was Staphylococcus spp. (15;30%). Other organisms were Streptococcus spp. (6;12%), Klebsiella spp. (11;22%), E. coli (3;6%), Streptococcus spp. (14;25.45%), Pseudomonas spp. (8;16%). The microbes of the control group showed less resistance to the antibiotics and rather showed sensitivity to them. Conclusion: The study revealed a high prevalence of multi-drug-resistant opportunistic microbes on immune-compromised oral cancer patients compared to microbes isolated from healthy people’s oral cavity.

In vivo subsite classification and diagnosis of oral cancers using Raman spectroscopy

Oral cancers suffer from poor disease free survival rates due to delayed diagnosis.Noninvasive,rapid,objective approaches as adjuncts to visual inspection can help in better management of oral cancers.Raman spectrosoopy(RS)has shown potential in identification of oral premalignant and malignant conditions and also in the detection of early cancer changes like cancer field ffects(CFE)at buccal mucosa subsite.Anatomic differences between different oral subsites have also been reported using RS.In this study,anatomical differences between subsites and their possible infuence on healthy vs pathological classification were evaluated on 85 oral cancer and 72 healthy subjects.Spectra were acquired from buccal mucosa,lip and tongue in healthy,contralateral(internal healthy control),premalignant and cancer conditions using fiber optic Raman spec-trometer.Mean spectra indicate predominance of lipids in healthy buccal mucosa,contribution of both lipids and proteins in lip while major dominance of protein in tongue spectra.From healthy to tumor,changes in protein secondary structure,DNA and heme related features were observed.Principal component linear discriminant analysis(PC-LDA)followed by leave one out CrOoss-validation(LOOCV)was used for data analysis.Findin gs indicate buccal mucosa and tongue are distinct entities,while lip misclassifies with both these subsites.Additionally,the diagnostic algorithm for individual subsites gave improved classification efficiencies with respect to the pooled subsites model.However,as the pooled subsites model yielded 98%specifcity and 100%sensitivity,this model may be more useful for preliminary screening applications.Large-scale validation studies are a pre requisite before envisaging future clinical applications.

The role of YAP in the control of the metastatic potential of oral cancer

The Yes-associated protein(YAP)is a downstream effector of the Hippo pathway and acts as a key transcription co-factor to regulate cell migration,proliferation,and survival.The Hippo pathway is evolutionarily conserved and controls tissue growth and organ size.Dysregulation and heterogeneity of this pathway are found in cancers,including oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC),leading to overexpression of YAP and its regulated proliferation machinery.The activity of YAP is associated with its nuclear expression and is negatively regulated by the Hippo kinase-mediated phosphorylation resulting in an induction of its cytoplasmic translocation.This review focuses on the role of YAP in OSCC in the context of cancer metastatic potential and highlights the latestfindings about the heterogeneity of YAP expression and its nuclear transcription activity in oral cancer cell lines.The review also discusses the potential target of YAP in oral cancer therapy and the recentfinding of the unprecedented role of the desmosomal cadherin desmoglein-3(DSG3)in regulating Hippo-YAP signaling.

Hyperparameter Tuning Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit Model for Oral Cancer Classification

Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma(OSCC)is a type of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma(HNSCC)and it should be diagnosed at early stages to accomplish efficient treatment,increase the survival rate,and reduce death rate.Histopathological imaging is a wide-spread standard used for OSCC detection.However,it is a cumbersome process and demands expert’s knowledge.So,there is a need exists for automated detection ofOSCC using Artificial Intelligence(AI)and Computer Vision(CV)technologies.In this background,the current research article introduces Improved Slime Mould Algorithm with Artificial Intelligence Driven Oral Cancer Classification(ISMA-AIOCC)model on Histopathological images(HIs).The presented ISMA-AIOCC model is aimed at identification and categorization of oral cancer using HIs.At the initial stage,linear smoothing filter is applied to eradicate the noise from images.Besides,MobileNet model is employed to generate a useful set of feature vectors.Then,Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit(BGRU)model is exploited for classification process.At the end,ISMA algorithm is utilized to fine tune the parameters involved in BGRU model.Moreover,ISMA algorithm is created by integrating traditional SMA and ChaoticOppositional Based Learning(COBL).The proposed ISMA-AIOCC model was validated for performance using benchmark dataset and the results pointed out the supremacy of ISMA-AIOCC model over other recent approaches.

Deep Transfer Learning Driven Oral Cancer Detection and Classification Model

Oral cancer is the most commonly occurring‘head and neck cancers’across the globe.Most of the oral cancer cases are diagnosed at later stages due to absence of awareness among public.Since earlier identification of disease is essential for improved outcomes,Artificial Intelligence(AI)and Machine Learning(ML)models are used in this regard.In this background,the current study introduces Artificial Intelligence with Deep Transfer Learning driven Oral Cancer detection and Classification Model(AIDTLOCCM).The primary goal of the proposed AIDTL-OCCM model is to diagnose oral cancer using AI and image processing techniques.The proposed AIDTL-OCCM model involves fuzzy-based contrast enhancement approach to perform data pre-processing.Followed by,the densely-connected networks(DenseNet-169)model is employed to produce a useful set of deep features.Moreover,Chimp Optimization Algorithm(COA)with Autoencoder(AE)model is applied for oral cancer detection and classification.Furthermore,COA is employed to determine optimal parameters involved in AE model.A wide range of experimental analyses was conducted on benchmark datasets and the results were investigated under several aspects.The extensive experimental analysis outcomes established the enhanced performance of AIDTLOCCM model compared to other approaches with a maximum accuracy of 90.08%.

COVID-19 and oral cancer:Critical viewpoint

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) has marked the beginning of a new pandemic named coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19). The World Health Organization has announced it as a health emergency that is of international concern. The disease has been reported to cause respiratory illness, pneumonia and even hinder the immunity of an individual. Individuals with disturbed immune responses have been found to be quite susceptible to this viral infection. Oral cancer patients are also at high risk in this pandemic situation and might encounter severe detrimental outcomes. Angiotensin receptors, documented in studies as the path of entry of this virus, are highly expressed in the epithelial cells of oral mucosa, making the group of individuals with oral cancers even more vulnerable. Extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer is another potential target for SARS-CoV-2. An exhaustion of angiotensin converting enzyme 2 cell receptors leads to protumoral effects, whereas a downregulation of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer leads to antitumoral effects. Thus, it causes a variation of the biological behavior of the tumor. This article focusses on the molecular mechanisms, effects and pathophysiology of COVID-19 in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients. The different molecular changes in oral squamous cell carcinoma in the background of COVID-19 will modify various environmental factors for this pathology and have an effect on the carcinogenesis process. Understanding the behavior of the tumor will help plan advanced treatment strategies for oral squamous cell carcinoma patients in the background of COVID-19.

Artificial intelligence in dentistry:Harnessing big data to predict oral cancer survival

BACKGROUND Oral cancer is the sixth most prevalent cancer worldwide.Public knowledge in oral cancer risk factors and survival is limited.AIM To come up with machine learning(ML)algorithms to predict the length of survival for individuals diagnosed with oral cancer,and to explore the most important factors that were responsible for shortening or lengthening oral cancer survival.METHODS We used the Surveillance,Epidemiology,and End Results database from the years 1975 to 2016 that consisted of a total of 257880 cases and 94 variables.Four ML techniques in the area of artificial intelligence were applied for model training and validation.Model accuracy was evaluated using mean absolute error(MAE),mean squared error(MSE),root mean squared error(RMSE),R2 and adjusted R2.RESULTS The most important factors predictive of oral cancer survival time were age at diagnosis,primary cancer site,tumor size and year of diagnosis.Year of diagnosis referred to the year when the tumor was first diagnosed,implying that individuals with tumors that were diagnosed in the modern era tend to have longer survival than those diagnosed in the past.The extreme gradient boosting ML algorithms showed the best performance,with the MAE equaled to 13.55,MSE 486.55 and RMSE 22.06.CONCLUSION Using artificial intelligence,we developed a tool that can be used for oral cancer survival prediction and for medical-decision making.The finding relating to the year of diagnosis represented an important new discovery in the literature.The results of this study have implications for cancer prevention and education for the public.