Oral Submucous Fibrosis as a Precancerous Condition
JENS J. PINDBORG 1
1 Department of Oral Pathology, Royal Dental College, and Dental Department, University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
Oral submucous fibrosis occurs in people in South East Asia. One hundred fifty-six biopsy samples from 118 patients with the disease were analyzed with regard to epithelial changes. In group I patients, who had no oral cancer, atrophy of the epithelium occurred in 91 per cent and epithelial atypia occurred in 7 per cent. In Group II A patients (concurrent oral cancer), biopsies in regions remote from cancer also revealed atrophy and a 16 per cent frequency of epithelial atypia. In biopsy samples taken in the vicinity of the cancer (Group II B), the frequency of epithelial atypia rose to 75 per cent. Intercellular edema was present in a number of patients in each group. It is suggested that submucous fibrosis should be regarded as a condition that causes predisposition to the development of oral cancer.
