title: Salivary IL-8, IL-6 and TNF-α as Potential Diagnostic Biomarkers for Oral Cancer.
abstract: Saliva has been useful as a liquid biopsy for the diagnosis of various oral or systemic diseases, and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is no exception. While its early detection and prevention is important, salivary cytokines expression, specifically of Interleukin-8 (IL-8), Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), does contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer and these cytokines serve as potential biomarkers. Their excessive production plays a role in cancer progression and establishment of angiogenesis. However, other inflammatory or immunological conditions may affect the levels of cytokines in saliva. This article reviews the expression of levels of specific cytokines i.e., IL-8, IL-6 and TNF-α, their signaling pathways in the development of oral cancer, and how they are essential for the diagnosis of OSCC and updates related to it. Apart from serum, the saliva-based test can be a cost-effective tool in the follow-up and diagnosis of OSCC. Moreover, large-scale investigations are still needed for the validation of salivary cytokines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, Islamabad Dental Hospital (IDH), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan. Haafsa.OralMed16@iideas.edu.pk.
authors.forename: Haafsa Arshad
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Sahibzada
authors.affiliation: Department of Prosthodontics and Implantology, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia. drzohaibkhurshid@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Zohaib
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khurshid
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology, College of Dentistry, Baqai University, Super Highway, P.O. Box 2407, Karachi 74600, Pakistan. rabia.sannam@baqai.edu.pk.
authors.forename: Rabia Sannam
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Dar-Al-Uloom University, Riyadh 13314, Saudi Arabia. m.naseem@dau.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naseem
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery and Oral Medicine, Islamabad Dental Hospital (IDH), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan. drkhalidms@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Khalid Mahmood
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Siddique
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Fatima Jinnah Dental College, Karachi 74000, Pakistan. drmariahmali@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mali
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Materials, College of Dentistry, Al-Taibah University, Madinah Munawwarah 41331, Saudi Arabia. MZAFAR@taibahu.edu.sa.|Department of Dental Materials, Islamic International Dental College, Riphah International University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan. MZAFAR@taibahu.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Muhammad Sohail
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Zafar
keywords: biomarker; biopsy; cancer and salivaomics; interleukin-6; interleukin-8; saliva; tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)