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Anonymous Cell Carcinoma Essay

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Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) accounts for 90% of all oral cancers. It may affect any anatomical site in the mouth.(1) Annually,130,000 people succumb to oral cancer in India i.e. approximately 14 deaths per hour. Recently, a trend has been observed towards increasing incidence of OSCC among young adults. (2)The concept of a two-step process of cancer development in the oral mucosa, i.e. a precursor lesion subsequently developing into OSCC, is well established. These precursor lesions are referred as Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders (OPMD). Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is one of the commonest OPMD. The malignant transformation rate of OSF ranges from 3 to 19%(2) .OSF is characterized by changes in the connective tissue fibres of the lamina propria and deeper parts leading to stiffness of the oral mucosa and restricted mouth opening (3) and this extensive fibrosis of the connective tissue also causes reduction of vascularity & subsequently hypoxia in oral mucosa (4). OSF has been reported commonly among Indians living in India and among other Asiatics, with a prevalence ranging up to …show more content…

It is clear that additional mechanisms are involved in the malignant transformation of OSF compared with individuals with the same habit but without OSF as the former group shows a much higher incidence of oral cancer. (5)
Hypoxia has been reported to be associated with fibrosis in other organs of the body as it has been shown that renal fibroblasts reduce their turnover and upregulate matrix production when exposed to hypoxia (6). Another study revealed that lung fibroblasts produce augmented levels of TGF-b and enhanced accumulation of collagen during hypoxia (7) . In addition, molecules which are upregulated by hypoxia such as Hypoxia Induced Factor-1α (HIF-1 α) are said to be associated with malignant transformation of epithelia in other

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