Saliva in Balancing Oral and Systemic Health, Oral Cancer, and Beyond: A Narrative Review
1
Department of Cancer Biology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1881 East Rd, Houston, TX 77054, USA
2
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8549, Japan
3
Department of Oral Oncology, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Cancers 2024, 16(24), 4276; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16244276
Submission received: 2 December 2024
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Revised: 18 December 2024
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Accepted: 20 December 2024
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Published: 23 December 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders and Oral Cavity Cancer)
Simple Summary
Saliva is a vital fluid with diverse roles in oral and systemic health, including digestion, oral protection, and microbiome balance and support wound healing. It also serves as a non-invasive diagnostic tool, reflecting overall health and cancer. While saliva can protect against oral cancer, it may promote tumor progression and metastasis through exosomes and microRNA components. This review explores saliva’s biological functions, its role in head and neck cancer progression/metastasis, and the potential therapeutic tool.
Abstract
Saliva plays a multifaceted role in oral health and systemic well-being. It supports digestion, protects oral tissues, maintains a healthy oral microbiome, and facilitates wound healing. Additionally, saliva serves as a diagnostic tool that reflects systemic health and disease/therapeutic states. Furthermore, although saliva shows a protective effect against oral cancer development, once tumor formation occurs, it may be involved in tumor progression and metastasis via exosomes and microRNAs. This review discusses the essential role of saliva; its relationship with the development, progression, and metastasis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC); liquid biopsy tools for early diagnosis and monitoring of HNSCC; and the potential of exosomes as therapeutic agents.
Keywords:
oral squamous cell carcinoma; saliva; microRNA; diagnosis; metastasis
