Micronucleus as a Non-invasive Biomarker – A Review

Oral Cancer has a remarkably high incidence worldwide and a significant decrease in its mortality and morbidity rates has been established if it is diagnosed in early stages. There has been always a strong need to develop new, objective, non-invasive methods for its early detection. Micronucleus has come up in the recent past as non-invasive biomarker for diagnosis of not only malignant and pre-malignant lesions but also many other significant diseases. Micronucleus (“MN") is defined as microscopically visible, round or oval cytoplasmic chromatin mass next to the nucleus. Micronuclei (“MNi”) originate from aberrant mitoses and consist of eccentric chromosomes, chromatid fragments or whole chromosomes that have failed to be incorporated into the daughter nuclei during mitosis. The MN assay has been widely accepted as an in vitro genotoxicity test and a biomarker assay for genotoxic exposure and effect in humans. An attempt has been made to review the related studies, utilizing micronucleus assay of buccal cells as a novel marker of genotoxicity in head and neck region.