Description

Despite recent advances in the detection and treatment of oral cancers, mortality from these cancers has not changed significantly. In the oral cavity, precancerous changes become visible several years before the tumour develops. These lesions alter with time, and eventually some may develop into invasive cancer. Although we can currently identify these precancerous changes in the oral cavity we cannot predict how they will behave. Lesions that will develop quickly into cancer can appear similar morphologically to those that may remain unchanged for years or even disappear. The aim of this proposal is to identify genetic changes in precancerous lesions that can be used to predict whether they will develop into oral cancers. The study will examine a large number of biopsies of precancerous lesions, some of which developed cancer, whereas others remained unchanged or underwent regression. Those genetic changes associated with lesions that later developed into cancers will be good candidates for markers that can be used to identify individuals at high risk for oral cancer.

Principal Investigators

• Miriam Rosin
• Lewei Zhang (UBC, Faculty of Dentistry)
• Nhu Le

Funding Agency

• National Cancer Institute of Canada
   http://www.ncic.cancer.ca/