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. 2014 Jun 1;1(2):133-141.
doi: 10.1007/s40496-014-0014-y.

Salivary biomarkers for detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma - current state and recent advances

Maha Yakob  1 , Laurel Fuentes  1 , Marilene B Wang  1 , Elliot Abemayor  1 , David T W Wong  1
Affiliations

Salivary biomarkers for detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma - current state and recent advances

Maha Yakob et al. Curr Oral Health Rep. .

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant neoplasm of the oral cavity. Detection of OSCC is currently based on thorough clinical oral examination combined with biopsy for histological analysis. Most cases of OSCC are not detected until the cancer has developed into advanced stages; thus, a reliable early stage diagnostic marker is needed. This literature review presents an overview of the status of current advances in salivary diagnostics for OSCC. Though many protein and mRNA salivary biomarkers have been identified that can detect OSCC with high sensitivity and specificity, the most discernable findings occur with the use of multiple markers. Studies that incorporate proteomic, transcriptomic, and potentially additional "omics", including methylomics, need to be initiated to bring technology to clinical applications and allow the best use of saliva in diagnosing OSCC.

Keywords: exosomes; metabolomics; methylomics; microbiomics; oral cancer; oral fluid diagnostics; oral squamous cell carcinoma; proteomics; salivaomics; salivary biomarker; salivary diagnostics; transcriptomics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

Dr. Maha Yakob received a grant from NIH.

Dr. Laurel Fuentes received a grant from NIH.

Dr. Marilene B. Wang and Dr. Elliot Abemayor each declare no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

Dr. David T.W. Wong is co-founder of RNAmeTRIX Inc., a molecular diagnostic company. He holds equity in RNAmeTRIX, and serves as a company Director and Scientific Advisor. The University of California also holds equity in RNAmeTRIX. Intellectual property that David Wong invented and which was patented by the University of California has been licensed to RNAmeTRIX. Additionally, he is a paid consultant to PeriRx.

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