Advances in diagnosis of oral cancer

The prognosis for oral cancer remains poor in spite of advances in therapy. Early diagnosis and treatment remains the key to improved patient survival. Because scalpel biopsy for diagnosis is invasive and has potential morbidity, it is reserved for evaluating highly suspicious lesions and not for the lesions which are clinically not suspicious. Early stage oral cancers cannot be adequately identified by visual inspection alone and may be overlooked and neglected. A number of new diagnostic aids to conventional oral examination have recently been introduced to assist in the detection of oral cancer.