Salivary cytokines as a biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma: A systematic review.

Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are the most common types of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Oral squamous cell carcinoma is the 6th most prevalent epithelial malignancy worldwide, and it is known for having significant morbidity and mortality rates. The present systematic review aims to identify which cytokines can be used as salivary biomarkers for the prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of OSCC. The early detection of the tumor and its precursor lesions is critical for improving the survival rate, reducing costs and enhancing the quality of life following treatment for OSCC. The conducted literature search yielded 65 articles; however, only 8 articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were selected for a systematic review. Eighty percent of the articles were review articles, encompassing case-control studies and longitudinal studies. In 50% of the studies, diagnostic meta-analyses were conducted. According to the reviewed articles, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-8, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) (-α, -β, -γ), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) are potential markers for OSCC, with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%.