Salivary Diagnostic Biomarkers in Oral Cancer Identification of Pre-Malignant and Malignant Oral Lesions

Oral cancer remains one of the most devastating yet preventable malignancies worldwide, with survival rates remaining poor due to late-stage diagnosis. This book presents a comprehensive investigation into salivary biomarkers as non-invasive diagnostic tools for detecting oral pre-malignant and malignant lesions. Spanning multiple biological pathways including oxidative stress, inflammatory cytokine signaling, apoptotic dysregulation, endocrine changes, and porphyrin metabolism, the work evaluates individual and combined marker panels against histopathologically confirmed diagnoses. Findings demonstrate that salivary markers including IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha, 8-OHdG, MDA, leptin, and protoporphyrin IX differ significantly between healthy, pre-malignant, and malignant groups. Combined marker approaches consistently outperform single biomarkers. This research holds particular relevance for resource-limited settings where conventional biopsy-based diagnosis remains inaccessible, offering a scalable, low-cost screening alternative for high-risk populations.