Dr. Schwartz develops various oral cancer models to understand and quantify the earliest genetic and molecular events that change a normal cell to a cancer cell following exposure to virus or chemical carcinogen.These models simulate environmental -host interactions. For example a recent discovery showed oral commensal Streptococcus spp. exposed to small amounts of alcohol release acetaldehyde, a carcinogen, and alter target keratinocytes to foster human papilloma virus, oncogenic subtype 16 entry. These events contribute to risk for epithelial cancers In general, laboratory models for Dr. Schwartz's studies focus upon viral and chemical oral carcinogenesis using normal, transformed premalignant and malignant cells. Animal models include hamster, rat, and mouse, he validates laboratory findings and further assesses genetic and molecular progression as he changes a normal cell to a cancer cell. His approach also involves non-invasive screening of this process using oral cytology samples and RNA microarray. This method is unique because he harvests from the identical animal samples throughout the process of oral carcinogenesis. An identical approach is translated to clinical human populations to validate findings, to study early prevention or to monitor various therapies to improve the quality of life for the oral cancer patient.
