THE IMPORTANCE OF A LONGITUDINAL ORAL LEUKOPLAKIA PROGRAM

• Published in: Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology Vol. 130; no. 3; pp. e268 - e269
• Main Authors: NASCIMENTO, DIEGO, FERRI, CAMILA ALVES, LIMA, TAIANE BERGUEMAIER DE, DAROIT, NATALIA BATISTA, VISIOLI, FERNANDA, HILDEBRAND, LAURA DE CAMPOS, RADOS, PANTELIS VARVAKI
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-09-2020
• ISSN: 2212-4403; 2212-4411
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oooo.2020.04.726

Leukoplakia is defined as white plaques of questionable risk, since other specific conditions and other oral potentially malignant disorders have been excluded. Leukoplakia malignant transformation rate ranges from 1% to 39%; especially those lesions that exhibit microscopic epithelial dysplasia. In these cases, an increased risk of progression to squamous cell carcinomas is observed. Objective: This study aims to analyze the statistics of the management and follow-up of patients with oral leukoplakia and to report a case of a malignant transformation of this lesion. Study Design: Longitudinal observational study. Results: During 6 years, 87 patients with current or previous oral leukoplakia were examined. In the moment of evaluation, 80.5% were smokers or had recently quit the smoking habit, 77% admitted to alcohol ingestion, and 50.6% had sun exposure. Of all the histopathological diagnoses, 12.6% were dysplastic. Malignant transformation was observed in 3 cases in different sites: the border of the tongue, the soft palate, and the floor of the mouth. Conclusion: Our results agree with global literature that smoking and alcohol ingestion are risk factors for oral leukoplakia. Furthermore, our study highlights the importance of regular monitoring of these patients because they can present with malignant transformation. This type of program also performs oral cancer screenings.