Oral cancer is the most common form of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and most frequently presents as oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), which is associated with an alarmingly high mortality rate. Internationally, a plethora of research to further our understanding of the molecular pathways related to oral cancer is performed. This research is of value for early diagnosis, prognosis, and the investigation of new drugs that can ameliorate the harmful effects of oral cancer and provide optimal patient outcomes with minimal long-term complications. Two pathways on which the progression of OSCC depends on are those of proliferation and apoptosis, which overlap at many junctions. Herein, we aim to review these pathways and factors related to OSCC progression. Publicly available search engines, PubMed and Google Scholar, were used with the following keywords to identify relevant literature: oral cancer, proliferation, proliferation factors, genes, mutations, and tumor suppressor. We anticipate that the use of information provided through this review will further progress translational cancer research work in the field of oral cancer.