Oral lichen planus: controversies surrounding malignant transformation

Abstract

Studies of the malignant potential of oral lichen planus (OLP) have been hampered by inconsistencies in the diagnostic criteria used for OLP, the criteria adopted to identify a true case of malignant transformation in OLP, the risk factors for malignant transformation and the optimum management of patients to ensure the early diagnosis of transformation. Consensus remains elusive, and leading workers in this field have recently published conflicting reports on the malignant potential of OLP and on the important question of the advisability of excluding patients with epithelial dysplasia or a tobacco habit from studies on this issue. The present review outlines these debates and proposes a possible a molecular basis for the malignant transformation in this disease.

Squamous cell carcinoma arising in plaque-like oral lichen planus: A case report

“…These studies, observing OLP lesions for 3 months-24 years, found malignant transformation of OLP ranging from 0-12.5%. 6 Although the pathogenesis of the malignant transformation of OLP has not been clarified, a correlation between transformation and immunosuppressive agents, such as tacrolimus, which are used in treating OLP, has been reported. 19,20 To our knowledge, the OLP lesions in this patient were treated with TAO 0.1%, however, there are no reports about the relationship between treating OLP with TAO 0.1% and malignant transformation.…”

“…However, it is important to closely follow up a patient diagnosed with OLP. 6 Therefore, histopathological examination by expert oral pathologists is mandatory to confirm the clinical diagnosis and to exclude dysplasia and malignant transformation.…”

Oral Erosive Lichen Planus - A Case Report with a Highlight on Etiopathogeneses and Immunomodulatory Effect of Tacrolimus in Management of Oelp

“…The World Health Organization (WHO) devised a set of diagnostic criteria for OLP in 1978 that was revised in 2003. The modified WHO diagnostic criteria involve differentiation between OLP and OLLs [7,8]. In these modified WHO criteria, the essential clinical feature of OLP is defined to be the presence of bilateral lesions that exhibit a lace-like network of white lines(reticular pattern), but not of plaque, atrophic, erosive, and bullous lesions.…”

Liquen plano: Revisión de la literatura actual

“…Sin embargo, a pesar del intenso daño que son capaces de producir los linfocitos en estos casos, se observan pocos fenómenos de apoptosis que se observan en el LPO (2). Trabajos de revisión, así como trabajos experimentales describen, tras el análisis de los marcadores de la apoptosis en los queratinocitos epiteliales; es decir, tras la cuantificación de Caspasa-3 y Bax, que la frecuencia de fenó-menos apoptóticos en el LPO es baja, y que no existen diferencia cuantitativas entre las diferentes formas clínicas de la enfermedad (2,(35)(36)(37)40).…”

“…ligna, la OMS, en su último volumen acerca de los tumores de cabeza y cuello, recomienda el desarrollo de criterios diagnósticos que permitan diferenciar el liquen plano oral (LPO) de las lesiones liquenoides orales (OLL), pero se menciona que ambas entidades deben considerarse susceptibles de sufrir una degeneración maligna hasta que dichos criterios estén disponibles (2).…”