Assessment of Utility of Lycopene, Selenium, and Vitamin E in Management of Oral Leukoplakia

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the utility of lycopene, selenium, and vitamin E in the management of leukoplakia. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional observational prospective study, 52 patients of oral leukoplakia were divided into 2 groups. Group I patients were prescribed 6 mg of lycopene, 400 I.U. of vitamin E, and 200 μg of selenium twice a day. Group II patients were prescribed a placebo capsule. The clinical improvement was recorded in both groups. Results: The mean pretreatment size of lesion in group I was 9.24 cm 2 and in group II was 8.52 cm 2 . Post treatment size was 1.52 cm 2 in group I and 6.28 cm 2 in group II. There was a significant reduction in the size of lesion in group I compared to group II ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: The treatment with a combination of lycopene, selenium, and vitamin E is useful and effective in managing the cases of oral leukoplakia.

The Role of Vitamins in Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders and Oral Cancer: A Systematic Review

“…One study found that the topical application of vitamin E reduced the lesion size, without any therapeutic effects on the clinical symptoms of OLP. Two of three OL studies found that vitamin E applied orally or topically reduced lesion sizes, and histological changes were also observed [33,34]. One SF study utilized topical vitamin E with a corticosteroid (Betonil) and found that vitamin E enhanced the therapeutic effect of the corticosteroid [35].…”