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Malignant development of lichen planus‐affected oral mucosa
Author(s) -
Holmstrup P.,
Thorn J. J.,
Rindum J.,
Pindborg J. J.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0714.1988.tb01528.x
Subject(s) - oral lichen planus , medicine , oral mucosa , basal cell , cancer , population , carcinoma , dermatology , gastroenterology , pathology , environmental health
The present report describes malignant development in oral lichen planus (OLP) among 611 patients (409 F, 202 M) followed for periods from 1–26 years (mean: 7.5). During follow‐up, 9 patients (1.5%), 8 women (1.9%) and 1 man (0.5%) developed oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) in areas of lichen planus lesions. The age of the patients at diagnosis of carcinoma ranged from 56–79 years (mean: 70.4) and the length of follow‐up before malignant development ranged from 4.9–24 years (mean: 10.1). The estimated number expected to develop oral cancer in a sample of the general Danish population of similar size, age distribution and follow‐up was 0.18 (0.11 F, 0.07 M) i.e., OLP cases showed a 50‐fold increase (F = 70‐ M = 14‐fold). The observed number of cancer cases was significantly higher than the estimated number (p < 0.00001). Therefore, oral lichen planus fulfils the WHO criterion of a premalignant condition.