ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

European Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 2021 April;5(1):12-5

DOI: 10.23736/S2532-3466.20.00225-8

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Morphological analysis of basal nuclei in oral leukoplakia for prognostic indicators

Masataka UEHARA ¹ ✉, Osamu SAKAGUCHI ², Izumi YOSHIOKA ², Kazuhiro TOMINAGA ³

¹ Unit of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Shimonoseki City Hospital, Yamaguchi, Japan; ² Division of Oral Medicine, Kyushu Dental University, Fukuoka, Japan; ³ Division of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Kyushu Dental University, Fukuoka, Japan

BACKGROUND: Oral leukoplakia (OL) is a potentially precancerous lesion. The aim of this study was to test its potential, in order to distinguish between cases of OL that showed malignant transformation from non-malignant OL cases. Morphological analysis of nuclei in biopsy specimens was also performed. We had 22 OL cases that could be followed-up over a long-term.
METHODS: The patients were divided in two-groups, the malignant transformation group (MT group, N.=8) and non-malignant transformed group (non-MT group, N.=14). The area of the nucleus and the length of the nuclear perimeter of OL cells around the basal layer were investigated using computer-assisted image analysis in incisional biopsy specimens. The mean nuclear area (NA), mean nuclear perimeter, standard deviation (SD) of the NA and the coefficient of variation of the nuclear area (NACV) were also calculated.
RESULTS: There was significant difference in the NA between the MT group and non-MT group (73.6 µm² in MT group and 42.1 µm² in non-MT group; P<0.0001). There was a significant difference in the mean nuclear perimeter between the MT group and non-MT group (33.1 µm in MT group and 25.9 µm in non-MT group; P=0.0001). There was a significant difference of the in NACV between the MT group and non-MT group (36.3% in MT group and 29.5% in non-MT group; P=0.0215).
CONCLUSIONS: The NA, the nuclear perimeter and NACV of basal OL cells might indicate the likelihood of malignant transformation.

KEY WORDS: Leukoplakia, oral; Corticomedial nuclear complex; Basal ganglia