Methods and techniques for diagnosis in oral oncology

Objectives: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignancy of the head and neck, but despite advances in therapeutic modalities, the five-year survival rate has remained below 50% in the last few decades. OSCC is often preceded by potentially malignant disorders, but the distinction between high-risk and low-risk lesions remains a challenge for clinicians. Despite the accessibility of the oral cavity during clinical examination, many malignant lesions are not diagnosed until the advanced stage of the
disease.
Aim: to present the most common screening and detection techniques which have been proposed to address this problem, to avoid mistakes and ensure an accurate diagnosis.
Methods: Research was done exploring specialized databases PubMed, MEDLINE, EBSCO, Science Direct, Scopus for the period 2010-2025, by use of MeSH terms: oral tumor, oral neoplasms, screening and detection techniques, diagnostic methods.
Results: There are many new technologies that provide exceptional access to diagnostic tools to localize or visualize the altered mucosa in oral premalignant or malignant diseases. Optical techniques using the principles of chemiluminescence and tissue autofluorescence, reflectance confocal microscopy, laser endomicroscopy, laser-capture microdissection, optical coherence tomography, salivary microRNA assay, have accelerated the processes to facilitate the early detection of any abnormal change in the oral mucosa suspicious for malignancy.
Conclusions: The diagnosis and treatment of lesions of the oral cavity are an integral part of oral health care, hence the early detection and treatment of these lesions will greatly improve the quality of life of patients and the survival rate in cases of oral cancers. Therefore, we believe that the use of new technologies will be the next step in the evolution of diagnostic tools that will help us in the detection and monitoring of oral lesions.