Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine, Vol 1, 153-166, Copyright © 1990 by International & American Associations for Dental Research
Oral cancer
S. J. Gerson
Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago 60680.
In the U.S. oral cancer accounts for 2.1% of all cancers and 1% of cancer
deaths. Two to three times as many males as females are affected. Blacks
have more intra-oral cancer than whites, and their incidence and mortality
rates have increased in recent years. The etiologic process very likely
involves several factors. The major etiologic agents are tobacco (all
types) and alcoholic beverages. Herpes simplex virus, human papilloma
virus, and Candida have been implicated. Host factors include poor state of
dentition, nutritional aberrations, cirrhosis of liver, lichen planus, and
immunologic impairmant. Cellular changes include amplification of some
oncogenes, alterations in antigen expression, production of gamma-glutamyl
transpeptidase, and disturbance of keratin and involucrin production.
Experimentally, cancer is readily produced on the hamster cheek pouch and
rat oral mucosa. Unlike oral cancer in humans, most experimental lesions
are exophytic, and they rarely metastasize.
