Alqomariyah Eka PS, Rifqah Ananda M., and Amelia Aisyiah Anwal, Faculty of Dental Medicine Class of 2018 students, have won second place in the national literature review category at the 7th Airlangga Dentistry Scientific (ADS).
Rifqah explained that the national literature review is a competition where they must present innovations or creative ideas in the field of dentistry, by reviewing various existing literature.
ADS Meeting. an annual activity of the Faculty of Dental Medicine’s Student Executive Board (BEM), Universitas Airlangga, was held on Saturday, November 21, 2020.
“For the literature review competition yesterday, the 7th ADS Meeting 2020 raised the theme of Novel Therapies in Dental Science, so the team and I studied the urgency associated with technological advances as a therapy in the field of dentistry,” Rifqah explained.
The topic they chose was Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC).
Rifqah stated that OSCC is oral cancer with the highest incidence rate in the world. OSCC may reduce the quality of life because the cancerous lesions cause pain and tend to be invasive so that it can spread to other organs, and the mortality and morbidity of OSCC sufferers are fairly high. Therefore, they decided to review various literature on innovations for OSCC therapy.
“Our innovation concept is drug carrier, by utilizing the richness of spices in Indonesia, by using the main bioactive component of turmeric in the form of curcumin, and green tea leaves in the form of Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate (EGCG) based on nanoparticles,” added Rifqah.
They admit that they prefer herbal and nanoparticle-based drug carrier concepts and utilize Indonesia’s natural wealth, but based on the literature they read; herbal ingredients also act as immunomodulators. These herbs can increase the body’s immunity, and the body is expected to fight cancer cells’ activity.
“Next, we chose the nanoparticle-based drug carrier concept because it can facilitate the drug, in this case, the bioactive components of curcumin and EGCG to target OSCC cancer cells selectively,” she said.
The three FKG UNAIR students also hoped that their goal could be realized, that this innovation could be further researched as an OSCC therapy to improve Indonesian people’s quality of life.
“Because a healthy society is necessary for the nation’s progress and is our responsibility as the young generation of this nation. Moreover, we also aim to increase and expand knowledge and bring a good reputation for the alma mater, “said Rifqah on behalf of her team.