title: Point of care optical diagnostic technologies for the detection of oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite significant advances in treatment modalities, the 5 year survival rate in oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is less than 60%. Clinical examination, white light endoscopy followed by blind biopsies and histopathological analysis remains the gold standard for diagnosis and surveillance. These modalities continue to have a limited diagnostic accuracy of less than 55%.
  
  
  METHODS
  Novel optical-based diagnostic methods are promising new technologies for improving both screening and detection of cancer. This review will discuss their role in oral and oropharyngeal cancer detection with particular emphasis on optical imaging in oral and oropharyngeal cancer diagnosis, including the use of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, optical coherence tomography, fluorescence diagnosis, confocal laser endomicroscopy, confocal reflectance microscopy and narrow band imaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Aided by the use of differing wavelengths of light, these methods are capable of detecting physical and biochemical changes that precede and mirror malignant change within tissue.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our review of the currently utilized optical diagnostic modalities suggests the possibility of a cost effective, point of care diagnosis that could facilitate early detection, reduce healthcare costs and improve patient survival and quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University College Hospital Galway and NUI Galway, Ireland. Electronic address: davies.karen@gmail.com.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.affiliation: Nanobiophotonics & Imaging Group, School of Physics, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland; Singapore Bio Imaging Consortium, Agency for Science and Technology Research, ASTAR, Singapore.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Connolly
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Anatomy, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dockery
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Physiology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Wheatley
authors.affiliation: Nanobiophotonics & Imaging Group, School of Physics, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland; Singapore Bio Imaging Consortium, Agency for Science and Technology Research, ASTAR, Singapore.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olivo
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University College Hospital Galway and NUI Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Keogh
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: Optical imaging; Oral; Oropharyngeal; Squamous cell carcinoma diagnosis