The study objective was clinical assessment of the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of oral lichen planus (OLP). There were 23 patients aged 31–82 included in the study with oral lichen planus diagnosed clinically and histopathologically. In all patients photodynamic therapy was performed with the use of chlorin e6 (Photolon®), containing 20 % chlorin e6 and 10 % dimethyl sulfoxide as a photosensitizer. PDT was performed using a semiconductor laser, with power up to 300 mW and a wavelength of 660 nm. A series of illumination sessions was conducted with the use of superficial light energy density of 90 J/cm2. Changes of lesion size were monitored at one, two, five, and ten PDT appointments from the series of ten according to the authors' own method. The sizes of clinical OLP lesions exposed to PDT were reduced significantly (on average by 55 %). The best effects were observed for the lesions on the lining mucosa (57.6 %). The therapy was statistically significantly less effective when masticatory mucosa was affected (reduction, 30.0 %). Due to substantial efficacy and noninvasiveness, PDT can be useful in the treatment of OLP lesions.

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Disturbances in expression of apoptosis-associated proteins take part in the development and progression of many human malignancies. The aim of this study was the assessment of correlations among proteins involved in apoptosis-Bcl-xL, Bax, and p53-as well as relationships of these proteins with selected clinicopathological features in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Consequently, we examined by immunohistochemistry, using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase method, Bcl-xL, Bax, and p53 expression in 56 samples of primary oral squamous cell carcinoma and in 22 matched pairs of primary and metastatic tumors. The evaluation of immunostaining of Bcl-xL, Bax, and p53 was analyzed in 10 different tumor fields, and the mean percentage of tumor cells with positive staining was evaluated. The significance of the associations was determined using Spearman correlation analysis and the chi-square test. We found positive Bcl-xL, Bax, and p53 immunostaining in 44.6%, 28.6%, and 58.9% of the studied primary tumors and in 63.6%, 45.5%, and 72.7% of lymph node metastases, respectively. Analysis of associations among studied proteins revealed positive correlation between Bcl-xL and Bax in primary tumors (P<0.03, r=0.307). Statistically significant relationship between p53 expression in primary oral cancers and its expression in lymph node metastases (P<0.02) as well as increased expression of Bcl-xL, Bax, and p53 in metastatic sites compared with primary tumors could indicate an association of these proteins with oral cancer progression and development of metastases. Moreover, we suppose that knowledge about heterogeneity between primary and metastatic tumor might help to understand mechanisms of oral cancer progression.

Background. Routine epidemiology examinations of the periodontium in adults (regional and supraregional) are necessary to evaluate their health and to undertake proper preventative actions (prophylactic and therapeutic) pertaining to periodontitis.

Background. The cohort study revealed a relationship between chronic periodontitis and the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD) and myocardial infarction.