Oral potentially malignant disorders: clinical diagnosis and current screening aids: a narrative review

Abstract

Around 300 000 patients are estimated to have oral cancer worldwide annually, and the incidence is higher in South Asian countries. In 2005, at the Congress of WHO, the term potentially malignant disorder (PMD)/lesion was suggested as a replacement for premalignant oral lesions and conditions. PMDs are those lesions of the oral mucosa that are at an increased risk of malignant transformation compared with the healthy mucosa. PMDs consist of leukoplakia, erythroplakia, oral lichen planus, oral submucous fibrosis, and other miscellaneous lesions. A literature search was performed using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science without any language restrictions. There is no standardized method for identifying a site for biopsy and various methods such as toluidine blue stain, methylene blue, Lugol's iodine, and chemiluminescence have been proposed in the literature. Despite easy access to the oral cavity, there has been significant mortality associated with oral cancer as they are often diagnosed late because of the inability of healthcare professionals to identify them at early premalignant states. This article aims to provide healthcare professionals with the knowledge to identify potentially malignant disorders and to aid them in biopsy site identification.