Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Dec;31(6):341-50.
doi: 10.5114/pdia.2014.40932. Epub 2014 Dec 3.

Oral premalignant lesions: epidemiological and clinical analysis in the northern Polish population

Anna Starzyńska  1 , Anita Pawłowska  1 , Dorota Renkielska  1 , Igor Michajłowski  2 , Michał Sobjanek  2 , Izabela Błażewicz  2
Affiliations

Oral premalignant lesions: epidemiological and clinical analysis in the northern Polish population

Anna Starzyńska et al. Postepy Dermatol Alergol. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

Introduction: Leukoplakia is the most common potentially malignant condition of the oral cavity.

Aim: Epidemiological and clinical analysis of patients with oral leukoplakia (OL) diagnosed and treated in the Department of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery, Medical University of Gdansk.

Material and methods: The study was retrospective and prospective. Among 55 911 patients diagnosed and treated in the Department in 1999-2009, 204 people with OL were selected. The material includes 104 women and 100 men with an average age of 58.1. Most of the patients were in the age group of 50-70 years, average age was 58.1.

Results: The most common concomitant disease was diabetes. More than 88% of the patients declared occurrence of OL predisposing development factors (50.49% - cigarette smoking). Three hundred and twenty foci of OL were found among patients. Homogeneous OL dominated (72.05%). Multifocal OL was diagnosed in 58.3% of patients. The most common location of lesions was buccal mucosa (52.2%). Cancers developed on the basis of OL in 7 patients (3.43%). The percentage of malignant transformation was 12.19% for untreated patients and 1.41% for treated patients. The floor of the oral cavity was proven to be the location of the highest risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Patients with diabetes may be more likely to develop OL. The risk of malignant transformation is relatively high. In our material it was equal to 3.43%.

Conclusions: Cigarette smoking is the most important factor, which can influence the effectiveness of treatment.

Keywords: epidemiology; leukoplakia; oral premalignant lesion.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Reactive keratosis caused by biting (A) and friction (frictional keratosis) – toothless gums (B)
Figure 2
Figure 2
The SCC is manifested as white disks and patches within the buccal mucosa
Figure 3
Figure 3
Clinical manifestation of homogeneous leukoplakia of buccal mucosa
Figure 4
Figure 4
Heterogeneous leukoplakia of buccal mucosa
Figure 5
Figure 5
Unifocal OL of the tongue
Figure 6
Figure 6
The clinical manifestation of multifocal OL
Figure 7
Figure 7
OSCC in situ (TISN0) – the floor of the mouth growing on the basis of OL (patient 2)
Figure 8
Figure 8
OSCC of the tongue (T2N1) growing on the basis of OL (patient 7)
Figure 9
Figure 9
OSCC of buccal mucosa (T2N1) growing on the basis of OL (patient 5)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Warnakulasuriya S, Johnson NW, van der Waal I. Nomenclature and classification of potentially malignant disorders of the oral mucosa. J Oral Pathol Med. 2007;36:575–80. - PubMed
    1. Pindborg JJ, Reichart PA, Smith CJ, van der Waal I. International histological classification of tumours. World Health Organization; 1997. Histological typing of cancer and precancer of the oral mucosa.
    1. Reichart PA, Philipsen HP. Oral erythroplakia: a review. Oral Oncol. 2005;41:551–61. - PubMed
    1. Shafer WG, Waldron CA. Erythroplakia of the oral cavity. Cancer. 1975;36:1021–8. - PubMed
    1. Suter VG, Morger R, Altermatt HJ, et al. Oral erythroplakia and erythroleukoplakia: red and red-white dysplastic lesions of the oral mucosa – part 1: epidemiology, etiology, histopathology and differential diagnosis [German] Schweiz Monatsschr Zahnmed. 2008;118:390–7. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources