Editorial: Genetics and Molecular Mechanisms of Oral and Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common histopathological type of oral cancer, with typical characteristics of low 5-year survival rate and poor prognosis (1, 2). Importantly, there are many factors affecting its occurrence and progression, in which genome alterations are critical indicators of the proper diagnosis and treatment (3). Carcinogenesis is a multi-step process, which involves the accumulation of genetic and epigenetic changes of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes (4).Therefore, better understanding of the genetic and molecular disorders of the disease is the key to early diagnosis, appropriate treatment and improving the prognosis of patients