PROLIFERATIVEVERRUCOUS LEUKOPLAKIA: LITERATURE REVIEW WITH EMPHASIS ON DIAGNOSIS, MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT

Abstract

Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders (OPMDs) describe a group of diseases at increased risk of leading to Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC). The most common is Oral Leukoplakia (OL), which presents itself through an aggressive variant known as Proliferative Verrucous Leukoplakia (PVL). First described in 1985 by Hansen et al., PVL is considered an uncommon multifocal form of the disease, with an aggressive and relentless clinical course towards malignancy, and lacks association with traditional OL risk factors. The diagnosis and management of this disease form posits a significant challenge since, in addition to the absence of proven biomarkers that can predict its evolutionary course, the subjectivity existing in its clinical and histopathological evaluation means that the presence or degree of Oral Epithelial Dysplasia (OED) is not enough to determine whether or not the lesion will undergo a malignant transformation. The objective of this work was to carry out a Traditional Literature Review focused specifically on aspects of diagnosis, malignant transformation, management and treatment of PVL, an aggressive variant of OL. Our conclusion is that, to this day, there are no biomarkers able to predict the progress of OL, making it necessary to monitor and/or treat all OL cases, including cases of Keratosis of unknown significance.

Keywords

• oral leukoplakia
• oral cancer
• squamous cell carcinoma
• oral lichen planus
• erythroplasia