Can precancerous stem cells be risk markers for malignant transformation in the oral mucosa?

ABSTRACT: Accurate assessment of the carcinogenic potential of oral mucosal diseases can significantly reduce the prevalence of oral cancer. We speculate that precancerous stem cells (pCSCs) arise during the evolution of carcinomas based on long-term experimental findings, published literature, and the cancer stem cell (CSC) theory, wherein pCSCs exist in precancerous lesions and have characteristics of both CSCs and normal stem cells. This apparently contradictory feature may be the foundation of the reversible transformation of precancerous lesions. Predicting malignant transformation in potentially malignant oral illnesses would allow for focused treatment, prognosis, and secondary prevention. Currently available clinical assays for chromosomal instability and DNA aneuploidy have several deficien

SUBMITTER: Wang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10080963 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature