Epigenetics of oral and oropharyngeal cancers

Oral and oropharyngeal cancers represent the two most common malignancies of the head and neck region. The major risk factors for these cancers include alcohol consumption, tobacco use (via smoking or chewing) and high-risk human papillomavirus infection. The transition from normal epithelium to pre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBiomedical reports Vol. 9; no. 4; pp. 275 - 283
Main Authors Russo, Daniela, Merolla, Francesco, Varricchio, Silvia, Salzano, Giovanni, Zarrilli, Giovanni, Mascolo, Massimo, Strazzullo, Viviana, Di Crescenzo, Rosa Maria, Celetti, Angela, Ilardi, Gennaro
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Spandidos Publications 01.10.2018
Spandidos Publications UK Ltd
D.A. Spandidos
Subjects
Analysis
Biomarkers
Carcinogenesis
Carcinogens
Chewing
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Development and progression
DNA
DNA methylation
Epigenetic inheritance
Epigenetics
Epithelium
Gene expression
Genetic aspects
Genomes
Head
Head and neck
Human papillomavirus
Kinases
Mastication
Mouth cancer
Pharyngeal cancer
Review
Risk analysis
Risk factors
Smoking
Tobacco
Tumors
oral squamous cell carcinoma
epigenetics
human papillomavirus
oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma
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Summary:Oral and oropharyngeal cancers represent the two most common malignancies of the head and neck region. The major risk factors for these cancers include alcohol consumption, tobacco use (via smoking or chewing) and high-risk human papillomavirus infection. The transition from normal epithelium to premalignant tissue and finally carcinoma is in part caused by a summation of genetic and epigenetic modifications. Epigenetic refers to modifications in the way the genome is expressed in cells. The most common examples of epigenetic control of gene expression are DNA methylation, histone modification and regulation by small non-coding RNAs. The aim of the current paper was to review the recent studies on the main epigenetic changes that have been suggested to serve a role in the carcinogenesis process and progression of oral and oropharyngeal cancers. Furthermore, it is discussed how the epigenetic changes may be used as potential predictive biomarkers and how recent findings in the field may impact the personalized cancer therapy approach for these tumors.
Bibliography:Contributed equally
ISSN:2049-9434
2049-9442
DOI:10.3892/br.2018.1136