Van Zyl, Andre W.Van Heerden, Marlene B.Langenegger, Eric EmilVan Heerden, Willem Francois Petrus2012-12-112012-12-112012-09Van Zyl, AW, Van Heerden, MB, Langenegger, E & Van Heerden, WFP 2012, 'Correlation between dysplasia and ploidy status in oral leukoplakia', Head and Neck Pathology, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 322-327, doi: 10.1007/s12105-012-0352-91936-055X (print)1936-0568 (online)10.1007/s12105-012-0352-9http://hdl.handle.net/2263/20666Oral 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.en© Springer-Verlag 2012. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com.LeukoplakiaDNA ploidyDysplasiaPotentially malignant disordersOral mucosaFlow cytometryPostprint Article