Prognostic markers for oral cancer: an overview of the current status and directions for future research.

In the last decades, the search for biomarkers for response to therapy and prognosis, with potential of providing information about the likely course and outcome of disease, has been intense in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). Although several biomarkers, ranging from genetic and molecular alterations to clinical and histopathological features, have been described, only a few of them are used in routine practice. The aim of this review is to outline the recent advances in OSCC biomarkers, exploring those related to clinical and histopathological features, cancer cells and components of the tumor microenvironment. Future directions, highlighting the main issues that limit the clinical application of many of the potential biomarkers, are discussed.