Photodynamic therapy in the treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma – The state of the art in preclinical research on the animal model

•Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most frequent head and neck malignant tumor.•The review of strategies and methodologies aimed at photodynamic oral cancer treatment studied on animal model.•The most commonly used models are the cheek pouch model and the subcutaneous xenograft. Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma is a common cancer of the head and neck region. Due to the frequency of diagnoses, high rate of mortality, mutilating nature of classic therapy and numerous complications, new methods of treatment are being sought. One promising solution for treatment that is utilized in many fields of oncology is photodynamic therapy. The purpose of this article is to present a general overview of the use of photodynamic therapy in preclinical in vivo studies on the animal model. A literature search for articles corresponding to the topic of this review was performed using the PubMed and MEDLINE databases using the following keywords: ‘oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma,’ ‘photodynamic therapy,’ ‘photosensitizer(s),’ ‘in vivo’, and ‘animal model’. Based on the literature review, the two most used animal models can be distinguished in research on the use of photodynamic therapy for oral squamous cell carcinoma. Studies mainly focus on the evaluation of tumor growth inhibition after using therapies with various photosensitizers on the murine or hamster cheek pouch models. The animal model is a part of preclinical research. Unfortunately, each of the models has its limitations, so it is difficult to extrapolate the results to clinical trials.