Magic bullets: Paving the way in oral cancer therapy

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains to be associated with high mortality and severe morbidity despite multimodality treatments. Advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms and pathways involved in the carcinogenesis of oral cancer have paved way to agents that target the tumor microenvironment and specifically inhibit tumor growth. This review provides insight into the novel therapies which target selective molecular pathways involved in carcinogenesis which might improve treatment outcomes and long-term survival in patients with this aggressive neoplasm. The molecular pathways discussed in the present article are epidermal growth factor receptor pathway, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor pathway, tumor suppressor gene p53/retinoblastoma pathway, phosphatase and tensin homologue/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway, the RAS/MEK/mitogen activated protein kinase pathway, notch pathway, etc., with special emphasis on HNSCC.