Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders - Did you know?

Certain red/white/red-white lesions of the oral cavity have a potential or a higher risk to develop malignancy (oral squamous cell carcinoma). Such lesions are called “Oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD)”. 

The term “dysplasia” denotes the abnormal development of a tissue and “epithelial dysplasia (ED)” is used to designate the atypical characteristics of the epithelium (indicating malignant risk) under the microscope.

Oral Epithelial dysplasia - Did you know?

🤨 Did you know Oral Precancerous lesions and conditions are better termed Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders?

These diseases (epithelial pathologies, be it lesions or conditions) that could undergo malignant transformation are no more classified as precancerous lesions or conditions. Earlier (1978), WHO termed such disorders as oral precancers and classified them as precancerous lesions and precancerous conditions.

Precancerous lesion

Morphologically altered tissue in which oral cancer is more likely to occur than in its apparently normal counterpart.

Precancerous condition

A generalized state associated with a significantly increased risk of cancer.

🤨Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders

• In 2005, Oral medicine and Oral pathology experts in a workshop organized by WHO Collaborating Centre for Oral Cancer and Precancer in the UK, proposed the term Oral potentially malignant disorders for defining all oral precancers (lesions and conditions). 

• Hence all mucosal diseases having a potential to become OSCC are collectively called Oral potentially malignant disorders. 

📝References

• Warnakulasuriya S, Johnson NW, van der Waal I. Nomenclature and classification of potentially malignant disorders of the oral mucosa. J Oral Pathol Med. 2007;36(10):575-80.

• Sarode SC, Sarode GS, Tupkari JV. Oral potentially malignant disorders: A proposal for terminology and definition with review of literature. J Oral Maxillofac Pathol.2014 ;18(Suppl 1):S77-80.

• Warnakulasuriya S. Clinical features and presentation of oral potentially malignant disorders. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2018 Jun;125(6):582-590.

---

📋Fun Question

Could oral lichen planus show dysplastic features under the microscope?

---

🎥 A Preview Video!

---

🔎You could dig deeper into the topic

In fact, we delve a lot more deeper into this topic in our cheatsheet/note -> Oral potentially malignant disorders. We talk about,

• The history of Precancerous lesions and conditions, why they were called so?

• Why the term Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders was proposed.

• A table enumerating the various lesions classified as Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders covering their etiology, common sites of occurrence and their key clinical features.

You could read in detail about Oral potentially malignant disorders with our Revision Ninja - Oral Pathology and Medicine Course bundle!

---

💡Note

Apart from Notes, you could also get access to numerous MCQs and Videos with English captions/subtitles on various topics in Oral Pathology and Medicine.

---

📚Other study resources on HackDentistry!

• Revision Ninja - Oral Histology (Notes, Videos & MCQs)

• Revision Ninja - Periodontics (Notes & MCQs)

• Question Bank (5000+ Questions)

---

And hey, by the way, please do give HackDentistry a shout-out to your friends and colleagues, would you? Would really appreciate it! Cheers and happy reading :)

Best

Team HackDentistry