Postoperative recurrence as an associated factor of malignant transformation of Oral dysplastic leukoplakia

Purpose: To evaluate the clinically associated factors of malignant transformation in patients who received laser surgery for oral dysplastic leukoplakia. Procedures: The clinicopathological data of patients receiving laser surgery for dysplastic leukoplakia from 2002 to 2008 and HPV genomic DNA extracted from paraffin-embedded specimens were analyzed statistically. Results: A total 114 patients, 90 males and 24 females with an average age of 49.7 ± 12.2 years were enrolled. The follow-up period ranged from 1.07 to 7.43 years (mean 3.4 ± 1.3 years). Thirteen cases had malignant transformation (11.4%). Multiple-focus lesions, non-homogeneous leukoplakia, high-grade dysplasia and recurrence after laser treatment were significant factors in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis showed that recurrence (relative risk = 9.40) was the independent prognostic factor for malignant transformation. Conclusions: Recurrence after laser treatment is an independent prognostic factor predicting malignant transformation of dysplastic oral leukoplakia.