Oral Cancer and Cancer Stem Cells: Relevance to Oral Cancer Risk Factors, Premalignant Lesions, and Treatment

Cancer stem cells are recognized as the most critical cancer cells. They are responsible for cancer progression, the development of metastasis, and treatment failures. There are a number of well-studied surface proteins and enzymatic processes that can be used to isolate cancer stem cells from the bulk of the other cancer cells. The role of cancer stems cells in premalignant lesions of the oral cancer is poorly understood but slowly evolving. Novel therapies are being developed to more effectively eradicate cancer stem cells and improve patient outcomes. Efforts to improve our understanding of this important subpopulation of cancer cells is vital in directing further studies to advance our ability to prevent patients from developing oral cancer and to providing more effective treatment for those that do.