Clinicopathological characteristics and follow-up outcomes of patients with oral potentially malignant disorders: A 7-year observational cohort study

Description

Azad and colleagues describe patients with oral potentially malignant disorders, mouth lesions carrying a raised risk of turning cancerous, at a dental school in Alborz, Iran, in 2026 oral health research. The combined retrospective and prospective cohort included 50 patients diagnosed between 2019 and 2025, with standard checklists, examinations, and tissue analysis recording lesion type, site, risk factors, and change over follow-up. Women made up 64 percent of the population, and most patients were aged 40 to 60.

The commonest lesions were plaque-type oral lichen planus and, next, non-homogeneous leukoplakia, favoring the cheek lining and tongue. A burning sensation troubled 52 percent of patients at presentation. Microscopy showed lichenoid mucositis in 86 percent of patients, while mild dysplasia, the precancerous cell change, appeared in only 7 percent overall but in 57 percent of leukoplakia cases specifically. At follow-up, 80 percent of patients still had persistent lesions despite corticosteroid treatment, underscoring the need for long-term surveillance.

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Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13379386