Abstract:
Oral leukoplakia and other potentially malignant
disorders (PMD) may progress to oral squamous cell
carcinoma (OSCC). The gold standard for assessing the
potential for malignant transformation remains histologic
examination with the aim of grading the dysplastic changes.
However, not all lesions with dysplasia will progress
to OSCC. DNA ploidy has been suggested as a method to
predict the clinical behaviour of PMD. This study reports
on the use of high-resolution flow cytometry to determine
the ploidy status of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded
material from PMD compared to their dysplasia grade on
histology. Aneuploidy was found in 13 % of mild, 31 % of
moderate, and 54 % of severe dysplasia cases. This difference
was statistically significant (p = 0.011). The differences
in ploidy status were more significant when
grouping the dysplasia into low-risk and high-risk categories
(p = 0.008). These findings indicate that the ploidy
status of PMD as determined by high-resolution flow
cytometry may be of value in predicting biological
behaviour in PMD such as leukoplakia.
