Panoramic view of key cross-talks underpinning the oral squamous cell carcinoma stemness - unearthing the future opportunities

The clinical management of oral cancer is often frequented with challenges that arise from relapse, recurrence, invasion and resistance towards the cornerstone chemo and radiation therapies. The recent conceptual advancement in oncology has substantiated the role of cancer stem cells (CSC) as a predominant player of these intricacies. CSC are a sub-group of tumor population with inherent adroitness to self-renew with high plasticity. During tumor evolution, the structural and functional reprogramming persuades the cancer cells to acquire stem-cell like properties, thus presenting them with higher survival abilities and treatment resistance. An appraisal on key features that govern the stemness is of prime importance to confront the current challenges encountered in oral cancer. The nurturing niche of CSC for maintaining its stemness characteristics is thought to be modulated by complex multi-layered components encompassing neoplastic cells, extracellular matrix, acellular components, circulatory vessels, various cascading signaling molecules and stromal cells. This review focuses on recapitulating both intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms that impart the stemness. There are contemplating evidences that demonstrate the role of transcription factors (TF) in sustaining the neoplastic stem cell’s pluripotency and plasticity alongside the miRNA in regulation of crucial genes involved in the transformation of normal oral mucosa to malignancy. This review illustrates the interplay between miRNA and various known TF of oral cancer such as c-Myc, SOX, STAT, NANOG and OCT in orchestrating the stemness and resistance features. Further, the cross-talks involved in tumor micro-environment inclusive of cytokines, macrophages, extra cellular matrix, angiogenesis leading pathways and influential factors of hypoxia on tumorigenesis and CSC survival have been elucidated. Finally, external factorial influence of oral microbiome gained due to the dysbiosis is also emphasized. There are growing confirmations of the possible roles of microbiomes in the progression of oral cancer. Given this, an attempt has been made to explore the potential links including EMT and signaling pathways towards resistance and stemness. This review provides a spectrum of understanding on stemness and progression of oral cancers at various regulatory levels along with their current therapeutic knowledge. These mechanisms could be exploited for future research to expand potential treatment strategies.