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Review
. 2025 Apr 16:14:Doc01.
doi: 10.3205/iprs000190. eCollection 2025.

Metabolic biomarker in oral squamous cell carcinoma - a comprehensive review

Karsten Schreder  1   2 , Claudia Wickenhauser  3 , Matthias Kappler  1 , Frank Tavassol  1 , Alexander W Eckert  4
Affiliations
Review

Metabolic biomarker in oral squamous cell carcinoma - a comprehensive review

Karsten Schreder et al. GMS Interdiscip Plast Reconstr Surg DGPW. .

Abstract
in English, German

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide with an increasing incidence. The surgical treatment is challenging and often requires the entire repertoire of plastic surgery. Diagnostically only a few crucial parameters are in use and even less for an individual and specific drug targeting. An individualised prognostic calculation is unavoidable to be able to adapt very complex surgical processes to an acceptable level. Unfortunately, the classic TNM system and grading are no longer sufficient, especially for individualized prognosis. Moreover, despite advances in treatment, studies have shown that the prognosis of patients with OSCC in terms of survival rate has not improved significantly, which is mainly due to the presence of treatment-resistant OSCC. Therefore, the identification of new, reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis and drug targets of OSCC is urgently needed. Meanwhile, the abundance of potential biomarkers for OSCC is difficult to keep track of. Therefore, the aim of the article was to provide an overview of articles listed in Pubmed® that deal with the topic of biomarkers in oral squamous cell carcinoma, focusing in particular on the topic metabolism. Another question of this study was to set the focus on essential additive metabolic biomarkers, which can also be easily used in clinical routine.

Das orale Plattenepithelkarzinom (OSCC) ist einer der häufigsten bösartigen Tumoren weltweit mit steigender Inzidenz. Die chirurgische Behandlung ist anspruchsvoll und erfordert oft das gesamte Repertoire der plastischen Chirurgie.Diagnostisch sind nur wenige entscheidende Parameter relevant und noch weniger für eine individuelle und spezifische Medikamenten-Zielgruppenansprache. Um sehr komplexe chirurgische Prozesse auf ein akzeptables Maß anpassen zu können, ist eine individualisierte Prognoseberechnung unumgänglich.Leider reichen das klassische TNM-System und die Einstufung insbesondere für eine individualisierte Prognose nicht mehr aus. Darüber hinaus haben Studien trotz Fortschritten in der Behandlung gezeigt, dass sich die Prognose von Patienten mit oralen Plattenepithelkarzinom im Hinblick auf die Überlebensrate nicht wesentlich verbessert hat, was hauptsächlich auf das Vorhandensein von behandlungsresistentem oralen Plattenepithelkarzinomen zurückzuführen ist.Daher ist die Identifizierung neuer, zuverlässiger Biomarker für die Frühdiagnose und Wirkstoffziele von OSCC dringend erforderlich. Mittlerweile ist es schwierig, den Überblick über die Fülle an potenziellen Biomarkern für OSCC zu behalten.Ziel des Artikels war es daher, einen Überblick über in Pubmed® gelistete Artikel zu geben, die sich mit dem Thema Biomarker beim oralen Plattenepithelkarzinom beschäftigen und dabei insbesondere auf das Thema Stoffwechsel eingehen. Eine weitere Fragestellung dieser Studie bestand darin, den Fokus auf essenzielle additive metabolische Biomarker zu legen, die auch im klinischen Alltag problemlos eingesetzt werden können.

Keywords: OSCC; metabolic biomarker; prognosis; survival.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Table 1
Table 1. Relevant papers dealing with enzymatic biomarkers in OSCC
Table 2
Table 2. Overview to relevant investigations with respect to metabolic pathways in OSCC
Figure 1
Figure 1. Glycolysis pathway
Normally, the glucose metabolism ends in mitochondrial respiratory chain and TCA (citric acid cycle). In tumors, among them OSCC, it is limited at lactate! Abbreviations: GAPDH – glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; HK – hexokinase; LDHA – lactate-dehydrogenase A; PFK1 – phosphofructokinase; PGAM1 – phosphoglycerate mutase 1; PGK1 – phosphoglycerate kinase 1; TPI1 – triosephosphate-isomerase
Figure 2
Figure 2. Graphic of inclusion and exclusion criteria in the PubMed® search
Figure 3
Figure 3. Classification according to investigated pathways
Figure 4
Figure 4. Classification of the cell cycle-related pathway
Figure 5
Figure 5. Articles with metabolic and enzymatic targets
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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