The role of apical-basal polarity in oral cancer

Abstract

Over the last thirty years, improvements in survival rates of oral cancer patients have remained modest, hampered by the late diagnosis of the disease, a lack of understanding of the underlying biology of oral cancer, and a lack of identified actionable targets. While the apical-basal polarity has been widely investigated in normal and pathological contexts, its involvement in oral homeostasis is still not well understood. Here, we discuss the current documented role of PAR-3 complex- dependent apical-basal polarity regulation in oral cancer. We explore molecular switches that link polarity dysfunction to oral cancer initiation and highlight relevant models that would promote our understanding of disease development for therapeutic interventions.