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. 2025 Nov 24.
doi: 10.1111/odi.70152. Online ahead of print.

Association Between Oral Lichen Planus and Non-Oral Cancers: A Multicentre Case-Control SIPMO Study

Gioele Gioco  1 , Anna Schiavelli  1 , Alessandra Majorana  2 , Elena Bardellini  2 , Silvio Abati  3 , Andrea Sardella  4 , Francesco Spadari  5 , Matteo Pellegrini  5 , Dorina Lauritano  6 , Raffaele Borgia  6 , Monica Pentenero  7 , Samuele Sutera  7 , Paolo Giacomo Arduino  8 , Alessio Gambino  8 , Roberto Broccoletti  8 , Matteo Biasotto  9 , Giulia Ottaviani  9 , Lorenzo Azzi  10   11 , Alessandro D'Aiuto  10   11 , Davide Bartolomeo Gissi  12 , Andrea Gabusi  12 , Andrea Santarelli  13 , Marco Mascitti  13 , Paolo Vescovi  14 , Gloria Bortolotti  14 , Maddalena Manfredi  14 , Marco Meleti  14 , Grazia Zino  15 , Umberto Romeo  16 , Gianluca Tenore  16 , Gianfranco Favia  17 , Luisa Limongelli  17 , Massimo Petruzzi  17 , Francesca Dimilito  17 , Lorenzo Lo Muzio  18 , Maria Eleonora Bizzoca  18 , Giuseppina Campisi  19   20 , Vera Panzarella  19   20 , Stefania Leuci  21 , Rosario Serpico  22 , Alberta Lucchese  22 , Giuseppe Colella  22 , Giacomo Oteri  23 , Antonia Marcianò  23 , Gaetano Isola  24 , Alessandro Polizzi  24 , Amerigo Giudice  25 , Elena Calabria  25 , Umberto Mariani  26 , Daniela Adamo  27 , Federica Canfora  27 , Filippo Graziani  28 , Marco Nisi  28 , Michele Giuliani  29 , Luisa Ritrovato  29 , Federica De Micheli  30   31 , Cosimo Rupe  1 , Francesco Scilla  1 , Romeo Patini  1 , Massimo Cordaro  1 , Michele Davide Mignogna  21 , Carlo Lajolo  1 ; SIPMO (Italian Society of Oral Pathology and Medicine)
Affiliations
Free article

Association Between Oral Lichen Planus and Non-Oral Cancers: A Multicentre Case-Control SIPMO Study

Gioele Gioco et al. Oral Dis. .
Free article

Abstract

Objectives: This multicentre case-control study aimed to investigate the potential association between oral lichen planus (OLP) and extraoral cancers. The secondary objective included the identification of risk factors for this association.

Methods: The study was conducted between January 2023 and June 2024 and included 21 Italian Oral Medicine centres affiliated with the Italian Society of Oral Medicine (SIPMO). The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Prot. ID 4073) and registered at clinicaltrials.gov (ID NCT06449248).

Results: In total, 1650 participants were enrolled (550 OLP and 1100 non-OLP patients) matched for age and sex. OLP patients showed a significantly higher prevalence of extra-oral cancers (19.8%) compared to controls (12.4%) with a 1.79 OR (1.34-2.39, p < 0.05). Moreover, erosive OLP (n = 32/120, 26.7%, p < 0.01) and plaque-like variants (n = 27/114, 23.7%, p < 0.04) seem to have a slightly increased risk of extra-oral cancer.

Conclusions: Patients with OLP had a higher risk of developing extraoral cancer; moreover, erosive and plaque-like forms could be considered at higher risk. Potential pathogenic mechanisms involve an interplay between chronic inflammation, immune dysregulation and carcinogenesis. Therefore, the directionality of such association remains unclear, underscoring the need for prospective studies to clarify causality and temporal dynamics.

Keywords: SIPMO; comorbidity; extra‐oral cancer; neoplasm; oral lichen planus.

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