Abstract
Objective: 1) Determine the presence, if any, of aneuploidy in premalignant oral leukoplakia (OL). 2) Review the literature with respect to the relevance of aneuploidy as in OL.
Method: Tissue was mechanically disaggregated, and cell suspensions were centrifuged (300 rpm/ 5 minutes). After 10 minutes trypsin digestion and treatment with RNAase inhibitors, cell suspension was stained with propidium iodide and spermine. Nuclear DNA content FCM (flow cytometry) measurements were preformed using FACS Calibur FCM with argon laser (488 nm beam).
Results: Scrapings from 17 patients for FCM and tissue for morphological evaluations were obtained. Thirteen out of 17 (76%) patients were male. A total of 4 out of 17 were female (24%). All patients were smokers. A total of 4 out of 17 (82%) patients were graded as moderate dysplasia by 2 different oral pathologists, and 3/17 (18%) were graded as having severe dysplasia. The rate of detection of aneuploidy was 0% (0/17).
Conclusion: Most published studies focus on DNA aneuploidy in HNC, and evidence for its role in OL is scant. On the basis of our results and the few published trials on this subject, we analyze whether aneuploidy plays a role in the prediction of risk of malignant transformation in OL.
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