Zeitschrift für molekulare Biomarker und Diagnose

Cell proliferation markers in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Maiara de Moraes, Conceicao Aparecida Dornelas Monteiro Maia, Roseana de Almeida Freitas and Hebel Cavalcanti Galvao

The discovery and characterization of genes and molecules involved in oral carcinogenesis have contributed to the diagnosis, assessment of prognosis and survival of patients with oral cancer. The knowledge of etiological and biological mechanisms involved in cancer allows important advances in diagnosis and therapeutics. Numerous parameters are used to measure the aggressiveness of a tumor, among which cell proliferation stands out, an important phenomenon related to the behavior of lesion and that is linked to dysregulation of the cell cycle machinery in various cancers. Scientific researches have been conducted to investigate these events. This review discusses the use of cell proliferation markers in oral cancer, particularly oral squamous cell carcinoma, emphasizing those related to cell proliferation rate, such as PCNA, Ki-67, AgNORs, cyclins, MCM and geminin. Criteria used for diagnostic and prognostic such as clinical stage, size and location of lesions, margin of lesions, associated with the use of these biomarkers offer valuable opportunities to evaluate the behavior of the disease and, moreover, are of great prognostic value.