No abstract

The prevalence of leukoedema, preleukoplakia and leukoplakia has been studied among 1226 Papuans and New Guineans in two coastal areas and in one highland area. Leukoedema is found in 2.4‐16.9%, preleukoplakia in 10.6‐ 13.4% and leukoplakia in 3.1‐6.2%. Chewing and smoking habits seem to be associated with varying rates of the conditions recorded. In view of a previously supposed obvious association with the betel chewing habit, it is deeply interesting that the results of this study indicate that smoking may be more closely associated with the risk for these conditions. Epithelial atypia, carcinoma in situ or carcinoma were not noted among 26 biopsies taken from the lesions studied.

No abstract

Abstract. In a sample of 450 patients with oral leukoplakias, 32 used snuff, which was a Danish wet variety, Göteborg snus ® (Gothenburg Snuff). The group of snuff users consisted of males only, with a mean age of 58.4 years. The mean life exposure time lo snuff was 197,000 hours, the equivalent of 22 years of constant use. Patients with leukoplakia due lo the use of snuff experienced fewer symptoms than did patients with leukoplakia due to other unknown causes. The snuff users also tended to be older at first examination, and to have a higher alcohol intake. Histological changes characteristic of snuff‐users' leukoplakias were: (1) vacuolated cells in the upper part of the spinous cell layers of the epithelium with intervening streaks of parakeratinized cells, (2) epithelial hyperplasia, and (3) hyalinized, eosinophilic deposits around salivary glands. However, statistically significant differences were not found between snuff‐induced leukoplakias and other leukoplakias either as lo dysplasia observed histologically or as to malignant development.