title: Oral field cancerization: an update on current concepts.
abstract: There always exists a field with genetically altered cells with a high risk of developing premalignant and malignant lesions. It may often happen that an individual stem cell is genetically altered and can cause the formation of a clone or a patch which is likely to turn into a tumor. This explains the higher recurrence rates following tumor resections. It is essential to identify and to treat this field in order to have greater chances to prevent cancer and achieve a better outcome. This article reports concepts, theories and markers for the assessment of field cancerization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha University , Chennai, India.
authors.forename: Meenakshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha University , Chennai, India.
authors.forename: Nithya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jagannathan
keywords: cancerization; clone; field; metastasis; patch; tumor