Oral field cancerization: Tracking the invisible

Cancer is one of the most common diseases affecting humans worldwide, despite latest advances made in molecular and cell biology, how cancer cells progress through carcinogenesis and acquire their metastatic ability is still questionable. Oral cavity is one of the commonest site for potentially malignant disorders. These pre-malignant pathologies may progress to dysplastic lesions then to invasive carcinomas.The presence of one or more mucosal areas consisting of epithelial cells that have cancer-associated genetic or epigenetic alterations.The prognosis of squamous cell carcinoma patients is adversely influenced by development of a new tumor. This review highlights the pathophysiological changes during field cancerization