Understanding oral cancer at molecular level: The new frontier

Oral cancer is one of the major threats to public health in developed as well as developing countries. Despite the current therapeutic modalities, which include the use of nonselective treatments (surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy), the mortality and morbidity rates still remain high due to delays in diagnosis and treatment. Thus, it is important to completely understand the molecular mechanism in the development of oral cancer to further develop more selective treatment. This review attempts to identify and understand the deregulated molecular pathways and related genes in oral carcinogenesis.