1. What is the pathophysiology of oral cancer?

  • This is a background or general question which can be answered by consulting a textbook. You may search medical e-books from the Library’s homepage at http://library.cumc.columbia.edu/ select>Top Resources> Access Medicine. Type your topic in the search box and view results. For example, searching mouth neoplasms results in: Oral manifestations of Disease; in Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine.
  • StatRef is another e-book platform that is available from the Library’s homepage,  select >Top Resources>StatRef;  suggested search terms: oral cavity cancer; results include Cancer Medicine, (Section 25 Head and Neck).
  •  Another option is to search CLIO from the Library’s homepage, select>Top Resources> CLIO.  CLIO is the Columbia Libraries online catalog. A suggested search term is “mouth neoplasms” as a subject (other terms may include synonyms such as oral cancer, oral cavity cancer). This produces a following list of results: https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog?q=mouth+neoplasms&sort=pub_date_sort+desc%2C+title_sort+asc&search_field=subject&commit=Search

  2. Are there any recommendations for oral cancer screening?

3. What is the staging system for oral cancer? How does that play a role in prognosis?

  • A search in PubMed can be conducted. To search PubMed, go to the Library’s homepage: http://library.cumc.columbia.edu/   select>Top Resources>PubMed.  A suggested search strategy is as follows:
  1. Mouth neoplasms [mesh] OR mouth neoplasms [All fields]
  2. Neoplasm staging [mesh] OR neoplasm staging [All fields]
  3. Prognosis [mesh] OR prognosis [All fields]
  4. 1 AND 2 AND 3.    Some results include:
    • Early stage squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip: predictive factors for recurrence. Ozkul Y, Songu M, Imre A, Tunc E, Ozkul Z, Arslanoglu S, Pinar E, Onal K.  J Laryngol Otol. 2016 Apr;130(4):369-72. PMID: 26860988
  • A search can be done in Embase. To search Embase, go to the Library’s homepage;  select>Top Resources>Embase.  Embase uses the term mouth tumor instead of mouth neoplasms. It uses the term cancer staging instead of neoplasm staging.  Tutorials on how to search Embase can be found here: http://help.elsevier.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4686/p/9754/c/9540,9542 Suggested search strategy is as follows:
  1. ‘mouth tumor’/exp OR ‘mouth tumor’
  2. ‘cancer staging’/exp OR ‘cancer staging’
  3. ‘prognosis’/exp OR prognosis
  4. 1 AND 2 AND 3   Note: exp refers to ‘exploding’ a term, which makes your retrieval very broad. Results include:
    • Evaluating follow up time and prognosis in patients diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma, using the multistate Markov model; Masoudi S., Pourdanesh F., Biglarian A., Rahgozar M. Iranian Journal of Epidemiology 2016 11:4 (55-62)
    • Clinical and histopathological staging in oral squamous cell carcinoma – Comparison of the prognostic significance; Kreppel M., Nazarli P., Grandoch A., Safi A.-F., Zirk M., Nickenig H.-J., Scheer M., Rothamel D., Hellmich M., Zöller J.E. Oral Oncology 2016 60 (68-73)

4. What are the dental treatment considerations for patients having head and neck radiation therapy?

  • A PubMed search can be conducted using the following suggested search strategy: “Head and Neck Neoplasms” [Mesh] AND “Dental Care for Chronically ill” [Mesh].  See results below.
    • 1: Moore C, Killough S, Markey N, McLister C, McKenna G. Impact of Referral Protocols on the Dental Management of Patients Undergoing Treatment for Head and Neck Oncology in Northern Ireland. Eur J Prosthodont Restor Dent. 2016 Mar;24(1):19-22. PubMed PMID: 27039474.
    • 2: Turner L, Mupparapu M, Akintoye SO. Review of the complications associated with treatment of oropharyngeal cancer: a guide for the dental practitioner. Quintessence Int. 2013 Mar;44(3):267-79. doi: 10.3290/j.qi.a29050. Review. PubMed PMID: 23444208; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3773981.

    Additional Useful Resources:

  1. AHRQ National Guideline clearing House https://www.guideline.gov
  2. ADA Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry http://ebd.ada.org/en
  3. Evidence-Based Endodontics Literature Database http://www.evidencebasedendo.com/
  4. Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry http://www.cebd.org/
  5. CDC Division of Oral Health – Guidelines and Recommendations https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/guidelines.htm
  6. Cochrane Oral Health: http://oralhealth.cochrane.org/
  7. TRIP Database https://www.tripdatabase.com/
  8. CATs Library Critically Appraised Topics https://cats.uthscsa.edu/search.php
  9. Learning at your own pace (Tutorials) from the Health Sciences Library’s homepage (includes tutorials for PubMed, Embase, etc.) http://library.cumc.columbia.edu/learning-your-pace-tutorials
  10. “A practical approach to evidence-based dentistry: understanding and applying the principles of EDB” Journal of the American Dental Association, November, Volume 145 (11): p.1105-1107; PMID 25359637 http://rd8hp6du2b.search.serialssolutions.com/OpenURL_local?sid=Entrez:PubMed&id=pmid:25359637

   Additional Assistance: