Oral and maxillofacial tumor surgery is characterized by complex anatomical structures, extensive surgical trauma, and high demands for postoperative functional reconstruction. Perioperative complications and functional impairments significantly affect patients’ recovery process, quality of life, and long-term prognosis. Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS), grounded in evidence-based medicine, optimizes perioperative management through multidisciplinary collaboration and demonstrates substantial application potential in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Multiple prospective studies have confirmed that standardized airway management, goal-directed fluid and temperature management, and specialized ward-based care can shorten hospital stays, facilitate early enteral nutrition and ambulation, and reduce intensive care unit admission rates and postoperative complications. However, existing ERAS studies mainly focus on traditional clinical outcomes, with insufficient attention paid to functional recovery specific to patients with oral and maxillofacial tumors after surgery, including speech, swallowing, mastication, facial expression, and psychosocial function. Based on the structure-process-outcome quality evaluation model, this review summarizes the implementation pathways and evaluation framework of ERAS in oral and maxillofacial tumor surgery. Furthermore, integrating current international evidence and a large cohort study from our team evaluating a delayed extubation strategy in patients undergoing free flap reconstruction, we demonstrate that perioperative management aligned with ERAS principles can significantly shorten hospital stays, reduce postoperative complications, and decrease medical costs while maintaining safety. Future efforts should focus on specialized pathways for oral and maxillofacial surgery, strengthening long-term functional and quality-of-life follow-up, and exploring digital and precision rehabilitation tools to promote the transition of ERAS toward a comprehensive recovery model emphasizing functional restoration and social reintegration.

In recent decades, although great progress has been made on the diagnosis and treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), its 5-year survival rate has not been significantly improved. The basic reason is the unclear pathogenesis, lack of effective molecular markers for assessing invasion, metastasis, and recurrence as well as therapeutic targets. The present view is that genetic and epigenetic abnormalities are related to the occurrence and development of OSCC. Epigenetic inheritance is a biological behavior that can be regulated and reversed, and it plays an important role in the occurrence and development of malignant tumors. First, this review will describe the role of epigenetic modifications in the development of OSCC in combination with our research and the latest research progress of epigenetics, including DNA methylation, RNA methylation, short noncoding RNAs (miRNAs, etc.), long noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs, histone modifications (acetylation and methylation), chromatin remodeling and genomic imprinting. Then, we will analyze the value of epigenetic studies in the prevention, diagnosis, and targeted therapy of OSCC.

The evaluation of immune function plays an important role in the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of many diseases. To date, immune function detection includes cellular immunity, humoral immunity, and inflammatory markers. In this paper, the application of immune function detection in the diagnosis, differential diagnosis and treatment monitoring of various diseases was discussed; then, the application value of immune function detection in the diagnosis and treatment of three common oral mucosa-related diseases, including recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU), oral lichen planus (OLP), and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), were reviewed combined with the literature and our research. Our research found that RAU patients present abnormal humoral immune function and obvious inflammatory reactions, whereas OLP and OSCC patients present mild inflammatory reactions and more serious abnormal cellular and humoral immune function, so the combined detection of immune function has a certain guiding value for the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Moreover, in the future, it is necessary to carry out a study on large sample, multicenter and multiindex joint detection to better clarify the role of immune dysfunction in the pathogenesis of various diseases and its mechanism, to establish the corresponding diagnostic model and prognostic prediction model, to find more effective treatment methods.

Benign condylar hyperplasia is one of the causes of mandibular lateral deformity, it is easily to be misdiagnosed clinically and leads to the treatment failure. This article will elaborate the etiology and clinical features of benign condylar hyperplasia, as well as the diagnostic points and treatment progress, based on the literature and the clinical experience of our research group, to provide evidence-based medical evidence for the standardized clinical treatment of benign condylar hyperplasia. The etiology of benign condylar hypertrophy includes neurotrophic disorders, local circulatory disorders, traumatic injuries (especially condylar injuries that occur in childhood), unilateral mastication, temporo-mandibular arthritis, endocrine disorders, condylar osteoma, and heredity. Benign condylar hypertrophy is insidious, and occurs most frequently in individuals 10-30 years old, and the course of disease can last for many years. Its clinical characteristics are slow progressive facial asymmetry. Radionuclide bone scans have become the basis for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of and treatment planning for benign condylar hypertrophy. Different treatment plans for active and inactive periods need to be developed, including close observation, proportional condylar resection and orthognathic surgery.

Free tissue flap transplantation is the preferred option for repairing and reconstructing postoperative defects in oral and maxillofacial-head malignant tumors. However, challenges remain for oral and maxillofacial-head and neck oncology surgeons in terms of ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, airway management, quality of life and prognosis. I/R injury is an inevitable complication of free-flap transplantation surgery. In addition to shortening the vascular anastomosis time as much as possible during the surgical process, many studies have attempted to further prevent and treat free-flap I/R injury using physical intervention therapy, antioxidant and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, etc. However, there is a lack of large-scale clinical randomized controlled trial evidence to further support these methods. Postoperative tracheal management of patients receiving free tissue flap transplantation is very important. In recent years, delayed extubation has been proposed as an alternative to traditional tracheostomy. This method can facilitate wound care for patients, reduce infections, speed up patient recovery, and reduce the incidence of vascular crises. In the future, such management is expected to improve the practicality and safety of delayed extubation by formulating more appropriate patient selection criteria and intensive care plans. Preoperative selection of suitable free tissue flaps according to the defect for repair and reconstruction is beneficial for improving the quality oflife and survival rate of patients. At the same time, for patients who require postoperative radiotherapy, reducing the complications of postoperative radiotherapy and improving the quality of life of patients can be achieved through intraoperative nerve anastomosis, preradiation oral hygiene maintenance, early speech training, and other methods.

Exploration of the underlying mechanisms of tumor occurrence and development, as well as evaluation of the efficacy of anticancer drug treatments, relies on various research models both in vivo and in vitro. Over the past few decades, with the rapid advancement of biomedical technology, significant achievements have been made in this field. Gene detection technology has progressed from a single-gene perspective to multi-gene approaches, resulting in rapid development of bioinformatics and transformation of the conceptual understanding of malignant tumors. Moreover, in vitro cell research models have evolved from monolayer two-dimensional and primary cultures to three-dimensional configurations, which better imitate the cellular interactions and functions within tumor tissues. Furthermore, in vivo animal research models have transitioned from traditional carcinogen induction and cell or tissue xenografts to genetically engineered animal models or xenograft models, enabling targeted investigation into the roles of relevant genes in the occurrence and development of tumors. Clinical research has shifted from simple retrospective to prospective studies, including phase Ⅰ/Ⅱ/Ⅲ clinical trials, investigator-initiated clinical trials, and real-world clinical trials. The major shortcomings of current malignant tumor research models include their singularity, insufficient simulation of the tumor microenvironment, disparities between animal models and human tumors, and the lack of consideration for personalized medicine. Further research and optimization of the models are still needed in the future, along with more effective integration of different models to form an optimized comprehensive experimental model system. This review systematically examines and comprehensively overviews the evolution of malignant tumor research models with the aim of providing more references to researchers engaged in oncology research.