Advances in Small Molecular Agents against Oral Cancer

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 29; no. 7; p. 1594
• Main Authors: Wei, Kai, Zhu, Weiru, Kou, Yanan, Zheng, Xinhua, Zheng, Yunyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-04-2024
• Subjects: Anthraquinones; anti-proliferative; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; cell apoptosis; Cell cycle; Cell death; cell proliferation; Cellular signal transduction; Chemotherapy; Cyclin-dependent kinases; Development and progression; Disease; Drug dosages; Dysphagia; Endopeptidases; Flavonoids; Health aspects; Humans; Immunotherapy; Isoflavones; Kinases; Medical prognosis; Metastasis; Mortality; Mouth cancer; Mouth Neoplasms - drug therapy; Oral cancer; oral squamous cell carcinoma; Polyphenols; Proteases; Proteins; Signal transduction; signalling pathway; Squamous cell carcinoma; Statins; Tongue; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumors; cell apoptosis; oral squamous cell carcinoma; cell proliferation; signalling pathway; anti-proliferative
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules29071594

Oral cancer is a common malignancy with a high mortality rate. Although surgery is the best treatment option for patients with cancer, this approach is ineffective for advanced metastases. Molecular agents are irreplaceable in preventing and treating distant metastases. This review aims to summarise the molecular agents used for the treatment of oral cancer in the last decade and describe their sources and curative effects. These agents are classified into phenols, isothiocyanates, anthraquinones, statins, flavonoids, terpenoids, and steroids. The mechanisms of action of these agents include regulating the expression of cell signalling pathways and related proteases to affect the proliferation, autophagy, migration, apoptosis, and other biological aspects of oral cancer cells. This paper may serve as a reference for subsequent studies on the treatment of oral cancer.