Oral cancer is the sixth most common malignant tumour, and it is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality due to its capacity to spread and invade. Oral cancer occurs at a different rate in different areas of the world, ranging from 2 to 10 per 100,000 people each year. Oral cancer is prevalent in South Asian nations such as Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In India, the frequency is 7-17 per 100,000 people each year, with 75,000 - 80,000 new cases per year. Identifying oral cancer in its early stages has a significant impact on survival rates when compared to detecting it later. Despite this, almost half of all diagnosed patients die within five years. A variety of well-established cancer screening programmes have been demonstrated to lower the patient morbidity and mortality dramatically. Regular check-ups, which include a thorough inspection of the whole mouth, are critical for detecting malignant and pre-cancerous problems early on. Unfortunately, early detection of oral precancerous and cancerous lesions has proved difficult due to the lesions' asymptomatic nature, doctors' casual approach to benign lesions, and the fact that 50 % of patients had regional or distant metastases at the time of diagnosis. Oral cancer is one of the most common cancers that leads to defacement and death. Despite recent advancements in therapeutic modalities, the prognosis has not improved. Patient’s mortality rates are positively associated with the point of presentation, with 60 % of people diagnosed with late-stage illness. Early diagnosis is important for oral cancer patient’s survival rate, as it decreases morbidity and mortality. According to the World Health Organization, the bulk of oral cancer patients are diagnosed late in the disease's progression, with a mediocre 5 - year survival rate of 50 %. As a result, careful treatment of oral cancer necessitates early diagnosis and intervention. Surgical biopsy is the gold standard for medical purposes, but it requires clinical assistance. Other screening methods that are simple to use, non-invasive, and expensive are the norms for any test to be accepted as a histopathology choice. The older cancer diagnosis modalities took longer, had more inter-observer bias, and were less descriptive. A standard oral examination with digital palpation is used in traditional techniques of screening for oral possibly malignant illnesses and oral cancers. Conventional inspection has been shown to be a poor discriminator of oral mucosal lesions. A variety of visual aids have been developed to help clinicians spot anomalies in the oral mucosa and in recent years, scientific and clinical developments have aided in the early detection and treatment of this disease. This review reflects on some of the older diagnostic modalities and screening methods for oral cancer diagnosis, as well as some of the recent more sophisticated techniques. KEY WORDS Diagnostic Aids, Oral Cancer, Premalignant Lesions
Oral Cancer and Precancer: A Narrative Review on the Relevance of Early Diagnosis