Multidisciplinary Management of Oral Cancer: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Rehabilitation

The management of oral cancer is a complex task, often requiring a multidisciplinary effort. To date, advancements in early diagnosis, tailored therapies, and post-treatment care have been achieved through collaboration between surgeons, radiotherapists, oncologists, pathologists, and other specialists. Dentists also play a pivotal role in early diagnosis and post-operative rehabilitation, while speech pathologists are often vital for improving quality of life after treatment; nutrition specialists are fundamental before, during, and after treatment.

New frontiers of research in this field have developed new diagnostic and prognostic tools, less invasive ablative and reconstructive surgery, and better tailored systemic treatments. Nonetheless, significant gaps remain in uniform diagnostic standards, optimal treatment modalities tailored to individual patient profiles, and effective rehabilitation measures that optimize long-term quality of life.

The scope of this Research Topic is to publish high quality papers, either clinical research, systematic reviews and meta-analyses covering, but will not be limited to, the following topics:

1. Diagnostic methods to detect or to better identify oral potentially malignant disorders at high risk of transformation into cancer, including molecular, genetic, and clinical analysis.
2. Optimal ways to diagnose and follow-up oral cavity cancer through radiology and the potential applications of radiomics.
3. Surgical aspects of oral cavity cancer management including novel ablative and reconstructive techniques.
4. The importance of novel prognostic tools such as lymph node yield and lymph node ratio, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, and tumor stromal ratio.
5. The role of systemic treatments in improving the survival in specific subsets of oral cancer patients. For example, the emerging role of immunotherapy in the adjuvant or neoadjuvant setting.
6. The importance of dental care, nutritional support, and speech rehabilitation in the perioperative setting for patients affected by oral cancer.
7. The management of treatment complications such as mucositis, xerostomia, or osteoradionecrosis.

Any alternative submission proposals are more than welcome; authors are encouraged to submit a manuscript summary proposal via the homepage to check the scope of their potential contribution.