Vol. 4, Issue 1, Part A (2024)

Oral cancer, or oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), is the sixth most common cancer in the world. For screening and diagnosis of this dreaded malignancy, sensitive and specific biomarkers for oral cancer probably sound the most useful strategy. Biomarkers are specifically used for early cancer detection, particularly for cancers of the mouth. For early diagnosis and evaluation of prospective therapeutic targets for oral cancer a thorough exploration is required regarding the various cellular metabolites that are specifically expressed only in the cancer cell. This review also aims to work with the therapeutic potential of oral cancer through the use of natural compounds. There has been ample investigation for the use of natural products for the discovery of anticancer compounds besides other diseases. Numerous metabolites have been found in marine biomasses and these compounds have demonstrated a variety of pharmacological effects, particularly antioxidant and antitumor activity. As nutritional products, marine algal drugs perform a variety of biological functions in the marine flora and it has been reported that possible effects of the phytochemicals on carcinogenesis include activating macrophages causing apoptosis.

This review summarizes current findings on marine algal based drugs or chemicals and their potential medicinal uses in the field of oral cancer with additional investigations on the role of the various biomarkers in detection.