1 Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, Division of Oral Medicine, Pathology, and Radiology, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
2 Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
J Dent Res. 2019 May;98(5):489-497. doi: 10.1177/0022034519833645.
Historical records as far back as 3000 BCE show that oral and head and neck cancer was a disease process well known to Egyptian physicians. Luminaries such as Hippocrates, Galen, Pott, and Virchow were instrumental in shaping our understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of cancer. During the 20th century, evidence-based medicine catalyzed the development of rigorous science-based diagnostic and treatment protocols. The use of surgery, therapeutic radiation, and chemotherapy as single-treatment agents or in combination with one another gradually emerged as the preferred approach to cancer therapy. The recognition of tobacco, alcohol, and human papillomavirus as etiological agents in oral and head and neck cancer prompted the development of new diagnostic aids and treatment strategies to mitigate cancer progression. More in-depth mechanistic insights into the multistep process of oral and head and neck cancer were made possible by the use of the hamster buccal pouch and mouse models. New technologies, such as the sequencing of the human genome, metabolomics, and proteomics, have provided the foundation for what we today call precision medicine. The future success of tailored medical treatment for cancer patients will depend on the discovery of new druggable targets with improved therapeutic efficacy. As the precision and sensitivity of existing tools for prevention and risk assessment improve, greater accuracy will be achieved in predicting health outcomes.
历史记载早在公元前 3000 年就表明，口腔和头颈部癌症是埃及医生熟知的一种疾病过程。希波克拉底、盖伦、波特和维尔肖等医学权威在塑造我们对癌症病因和发病机制的理解方面发挥了重要作用。在 20 世纪，循证医学促进了基于严格科学的诊断和治疗方案的发展。手术、治疗性放疗和化疗作为单一治疗剂或联合使用逐渐成为癌症治疗的首选方法。烟草、酒精和人乳头瘤病毒被认为是口腔和头颈部癌症的病因，这促使人们开发新的诊断辅助工具和治疗策略来减缓癌症进展。通过使用仓鼠颊囊和小鼠模型，人们对口腔和头颈部癌症的多步骤过程有了更深入的机制认识。人类基因组测序、代谢组学和蛋白质组学等新技术为我们今天所称的精准医学提供了基础。未来癌症患者个体化医疗治疗的成功将取决于发现具有改善治疗效果的新可用药靶。随着预防和风险评估现有工具的精确性和敏感性提高，在预测健康结果方面将实现更高的准确性。
