Genetic etiology of oral cancer

Carcinogenesis is an intricate multi-step process initiated by abnormal oncogenic signals in different signaling pathways [1]. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and characterized by a biologically highly diverse group of tumors [2]. HNSCC is the most common malignancy with an estimated 274,289 new cases and 127,459 deaths globally in 2002 and has approximately 2.5% of all new cases of cancers and 1.9% of all cancers deaths rates yearly [3]. In 2009, HNSCC was reported as the eighth most common cancer, with 650,000 new cases being reported each year worldwide [4] and its incidence is higher in Melanesian and South Asian countries [5].

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