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Oral leukoplakia—epidemiological survey and histochemical analysis of 107 cases in Brazil

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Abstract

Objective

To perform an epidemiological survey comparing the cell proliferative activity of 107 cases of oral leukoplakia with their clinical and histopathological characteristics.

Materials and methods

A cross-sectional, observational, and histological-histochemical study. The cases came from the Histopathological Diagnostic Service of UPF/RS and the School of Dentistry of Araçatuba FOA/UNESP/SP (1986–2016). The histopathological sections were stained using the silver staining (AgNOR) technique and the nuclei of 100 epithelial cells selected randomly were recorded to count the number of nucleolar organizer regions (NORs). The mean NORs per lesion were correlated to clinical and histological characteristics using ANOVA, at 5% significance.

Results

Most of the cases included men (62.62%), white (64.49%), and with an average age of 53.94 years. The most probable etiological factors were smoking (44.7%) and alcohol consumption (9.85%). The evolution time of most lesions was fast (33.65%), manifesting mainly in the form of plaques (70.37%) and without symptoms (58.88%). They were located mainly in the cheek mucosa (26.62%) and presented white color (66.35%), well-defined edges (59.81%), firm consistency (47.5%), and keratinized surface (49.53%). Etiological factor (p = 0.003), evolution time (p = 0.006), symptoms (p = 0.029), location (p = 0.020), consistency (p = 0.047), histopathological characteristics (p = 0.004), and superficial keratinization (p = 0.001) were statistically significant regarding the mean NORs of the leukoplakias studied.

Clinical relevance

Oral leukoplakias caused by alcohol consumption and/or tobacco use, considering an evolution time of fewer than 12 months, asymptomatic, located in the lower lip or tongue, and with a firm consistency and increased superficial keratinization should be treated more aggressively by the clinician to avoid cancerization.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Post-Graduate Program in Oral Diagnosis, Faculty of Dentistry, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

    Letícia Copatti Dogenski

  2. Faculty of Dentistry, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Sara de Figueiredo Ribeiro

  3. Post-Graduate Program in Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Diego José Gambin & Patrícia Canova Maso

  4. Department of Implantology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Maria Salete Sandini Linden

  5. Department of Periodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Micheline Sandini Trentin

  6. Institude of Biological Sciences, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Bernardo Zoehler

  7. Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Júlio de Mesquita Filho São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araçatuba, Brazil

    Marcelo Macedo Crivelini

  8. Departments of Oral Medicine and Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    João Paulo De Carli

Authors
  1. Letícia Copatti Dogenski
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Marcelo Macedo Crivelini, João Paulo De Carli; methodology: Letícia Copatti Dogenski, Sara de Figueiredo Ribeiro, Diego José Gambin, Patrícia Canova Maso; formal analysis and investigation: Sara de Figueiredo Ribeiro, Diego José Gambin, Patrícia Canova Maso; writing—original draft preparation: Letícia Copatti Dogenski; writing—review and editing: Letícia Copatti Dogenski, João Paulo De Carli; supervision: Maria Salete Sandini Linden, Micheline Sandini Trentin, Marcelo Macedo Crivelini, João Paulo De Carli.

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Correspondence to Letícia Copatti Dogenski.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants agreed with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Approval was obtained from the ethics committee of University of Passo Fundo (No. 172/2011).

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Dogenski, L.C., de Figueiredo Ribeiro, S., Gambin, D.J. et al. Oral leukoplakia—epidemiological survey and histochemical analysis of 107 cases in Brazil. Clin Oral Invest 25, 1859–1867 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-020-03488-x

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