In his first blog for the Dental Elf Rajpal Tattar take a look at a review of the diagnostic accuracy of salivary biomarkers for the detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The review considers two biomarkers, cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1) and for matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) but there is no conclusive evidence for either at present.
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This review of metastasis to the oral and maxillofacial region included 217 studies (190 case reports,24 case series ). Metastasis were uncommon, but identified from 29 primary sites, the most common sites being lung the lungs (20.97%), breast (12.06%) and kidney (11.78%).
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Manas Dave looks at a recent review of which considers the efficacy of optical fluorescence imaging as an adjunct to clinical oral examination for the detection of oral mucosal lesions. The review includes 27 studies and provides evidence to support additional high quality studies to assess its effectiveness.
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Manas Dave takes a look at this review evaluating the prophylactic and therapeutic effects of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in patients who might or have developed oral mucositis during chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
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This review assessing the evidence of the impact of replacing missing teeth with dentures on the development of osteoradionecrosis in patients who have radiotherapy for head and neck cancer only identified 3 case-controlled studies of very low quality.
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This review comparing primary care doctors and dentists in the referral of oral cancer included 22 mainly retrospective studies. Doctors refered sliightly more than dentists, typically 50% compared with 40% respectively.
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In this blog Manás Dave looks at a review of the prevalence of human papilloma virus (HPV) in oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD). Although 52 studies were included one in five OPMDs being HPV positive is not a substantial link so teh findings need to be interpreted cautiously.
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Manas Dave looks at a review of elective neck dissection (END) versus observation for the management of T1-2 oral squamous cell carcinoma. The review included 41 studies only 5 were RCTs the remainder being retrospective studies.
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This review of the malignant transformation rate of oral lichen planus and associated risk factors included 33 studies. Using a strict definition the authors found a malignant transformation rate of 0.44%.
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This UK multi-centre RCT of elective neck dissection(END) for early stage oral cancer found higher rates for overall and disease free survival in those patients having END.
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