New molecular diagnostic methods in head and neck cancer. Review uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Initial cancer evaluation includes assessment of histologic appearance, tumor grading, assessment of lymph node status, and presence of metastasis. However, traditional diagnostic methods such as histopathology and radiology are not sensitive enough to detect small numbers of cancer cells and are limited in their ability to predict response to treatment. Recently, there has been considerable progress in molecular diagnostics in these areas. Using molecular-based technologies, it is now possible to detect cancer early in asymptomatic individuals, identify minimal residual disease at histopathologic normal surgical margins, more precisely assess tumor burden in cancer patients, and more accurately assess the prognosis of the patients. Examples of these applications in the evaluation of head and neck cancer are reviewed here. However, despite the great promise of these new molecular approaches for cancer detection, much of the current technology limits their implementation into routine clinical use.

publication date

  • November 1, 2005

Research

keywords

  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Head and Neck Neoplasms
  • Molecular Diagnostic Techniques

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 27644585239

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1002/hed.20257

PubMed ID

  • 16200629

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 27

issue

  • 11