Chemoprevention in head and neck cancer

Abstract

Head and neck cancer comprises of a large section of our malignancies. The locations of the organs allows us to have an early diagnosis, and consequently, early treatment. However, even with the best possible treatment, the outcomes are quite dismal in many cases. So , newer strategies targeting prevention of the development of head and neck cancers are required. Epidemiological studies have given us a fair idea about the role of environmental factors as well as many precancerous lesions that predate the development of invasive cancers. There has been multiple efforts the decipher the pathways leading to the evolution of normal tissue to premalignant lesions to invasive carcinomas. Also, there have been many attempts to halt the process at various stages to prevent the development of the final step. This review focuses on the risk factors in brief, the pathways as well as biomarkers, and the agents that have been tested for prevention of head and neck malignancies.

Keywords

• Chemoprevention
• head and neck cancer
• retinoic acid