The cancer epidemic is due to the combined effect of the ageing of populations, and the high or increasing levels of cancer risk factors. The burden of OSCC is huge because of the permanent impairment, high mortality and associated high cost of treatment. OSCC is often preceded by oral pre-cancer lesions/conditions (PMDs). Presently there are no reliable biomarkers that can offer preventive/therapeutic management for malignant potential of oral pre-cancer lesions. Retinoic Acid (RA) has been identified as a regulator of cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis and thus is critical for tissue morphogenesis and homeostasis. Retinoic Acid pathway involves numerous genes that control its functioning. Amongst them RAR β is the important one which deals with mechanism of RA effect on cell and body as a whole. Retinoic acid signalling has been reported as aberrant in many types of cancer. Considering that RARs are the mediators of RA-signalling, studying tissue specific receptor expression could potentially be an effective means of detecting aberrant signalling and early diagnosis in oral carcinogenesis.
