Noninvasive Imaging Methods to Improve the Diagnosis of Oral Carcinoma and Its Precursors: State of the Art and Proposal of a Three-Step Diagnostic Process

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevalent form of cancer of lips and oral cavity, and its diagnostic delay, caused by misdiagnosis at the early stages, is responsible for high mortality ratios. Biopsy and histopathological assessment are the gold standards for OSCC diagnosis, but the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cancers 2021-06, Vol.13 (12), p.2864
Main Authors: Romano, Antonio, Di Stasio, Dario, Petruzzi, Massimo, Fiori, Fausto, Lajolo, Carlo, Santarelli, Andrea, Lucchese, Alberta, Serpico, Rosario, Contaldo, Maria
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biopsy
Cancer
Carcinogens
Confocal microscopy
Diagnosis
Dyes
Invasiveness
Iodine
Keratin
Lip
Males
Mortality
Oral carcinoma
Oral cavity
Oral squamous cell carcinoma
Review
Squamous cell carcinoma
Stains & staining
Tumors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevalent form of cancer of lips and oral cavity, and its diagnostic delay, caused by misdiagnosis at the early stages, is responsible for high mortality ratios. Biopsy and histopathological assessment are the gold standards for OSCC diagnosis, but they are time-consuming, invasive, and do not always enable the patient’s compliance, mainly in cases of follow-up with the need for more biopsies. The use of adjunctive noninvasive imaging techniques improves the diagnostic approach, making it faster and better accepted by patients. The present review aims to focus on the most consolidated diagnostic techniques, such as vital staining and tissue autofluorescence, and to report the potential role of some of the most promising innovative techniques, such as narrow-band imaging, high-frequency ultrasounds, optical coherence tomography, and in vivo confocal microscopy. According to their contribution to OSCC diagnosis, an ideal three-step diagnostic procedure is proposed, to make the diagnostic path faster, better, and more accurate.
ISSN:2072-6694
2072-6694
DOI:10.3390/cancers13122864