Open AccessMicrometastasis: Neglected enough!
Author(s) -
Prathyusha Chavva,
D Devaraju,
Vijeev Vasudevan,
Manjunath Venkatappa
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of indian academy of oral medicine and radiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 0975-1572
pISSN - 0972-1363
DOI - 10.4103/jiaomr.jiaomr_53_16
Subject(s) - micrometastasis , lymph , medicine , metastasis , cancer , primary tumor , pathology , oncology
Oral cancer, being the sixth most common cancer in the world, accounts for approximately 13% of deaths worldwide. Metastasis to the lymph nodes is one of the major prognostic factor for oral cancer. Micrometastasis are microscopic deposits of malignant cells lodged in lymph nodes. Tumor recurrence usually reflects the presence of such deposits which cannot be detected initially by conventional methods. Early screening of such cells using immunological and molecular markers would help in better staging of the primary tumor followed by prompt treatment, thus reducing tumor relapse. Therefore, the concept of micrometastasis has resulted in a paradigm shift in the staging of epithelial tumors and the overall understanding of the malignant process