Application of indocyanine green in the management of oral cancer: a literature review

Indocyanine green is a cyanine dye that displays fluorescent properties in the near-infrared region. Indocyanine green has good water solubility and can bind to plasma proteins in the body. After binding, it can display green fluorescence when irradiated by near-infrared fluorescence. Owing to its good imaging ability and low side effects, indocyanine green is widely used in the diagnosis and treatment of various tumors. Indocyanine green-assisted sentinel lymph node biopsy helps determine clean tumor boundaries, helps surgeons remove primary tumors completely, assists in microvascular anastomosis in head and neck repair and reconstruction, reduces operation time, evaluates blood perfusion to monitor flap status. In addition, indocyanine green has great potential in photodynamic therapy to specifically kill tumor cells. However, despite the benefits, studies regarding the application of indocyanine green in oral cancer are limited. Therefore, we conducted a literature review to explore the application of indocyanine green in oral cancer to benefit clinicians involved in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.