Open AccessDysplasia in oral lichen planus: relevance, controversies and challenges. A position paper
Author(s) -
Miguel Ángel GonzálezMoles,
Saman Warnakulasuriya,
Isabel GonzálezRuiz,
Ángela Ayén,
Lucía GonzálezRuiz,
Isabel RuizÁvila,
Pablo RamosGarcía
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
medicina oral, patología oral y cirugía bucal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1698-6946
pISSN - 1698-4447
DOI - 10.4317/medoral.24610
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , dermatology , oral lichen planus , position (finance) , medicine , dysplasia , lichen , clinical significance , pathology , political science , biology , business , botany , finance , law
Patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) have an increased risk of oral cancer. For this reason, OLP is classified as an oral potentially malignant disorder. However, the precise personal (or individual) risk is unknown. Recent meta-analytical studies have reported that dysplastic OLP may transform to cancer in around 6% of cases, while the rate of transformation is lower (<1.5%) in non-dysplastic cases. The presence of epithelial dysplasia has emerged as the most powerful indicator for assessing cancer risk in oral potentially malignant disorders in routine practice. However, the general acceptance of epithelial dysplasia as an accompanying histologic feature in OLP is subject to great controversy. Many pathologists consider the presence of dysplasia as a criterion to exclude OLP when routinely reporting on this disease. This practice, widespread among oral pathology professionals, has resulted in the underestimation of the potential for malignancy of OLP.