DNA content status using brush biopsy with image cytometry correlated with staging of oral leukoplakia: A preliminary study

SummaryBackgroundOral leukoplakia (OL) is the best-known potentially malignant disorder of oral cancer. The hypothesis was tested that DNA content abnormality may contribute to risk prediction of malignant potential of OL.MethodsAll OLs were staged according to a clinicopathologic classification and OL-staging system. DNA content status was investigated in a blinded prospective series of OL using brush biopsy with image cytometry, and examined the correlation of DNA content with the clinicopathologic features and OL-staging system in this preliminary study.ResultsAmong 65 patients with OL, 27 (41.5%) was identified as DNA content abnormality. The frequency (77.8%) of DNA content abnormality in tongue was higher than that (22.2%) in other oral sites (χ2 test, P = 0.038), and moderate or severe dysplasia had a higher frequency (63.0%) of DNA content abnormality than that (37.0%) of no or mild dysplasia (χ2 test, P = 0.022). Moreover, the odds ratio of DNA content abnormality in high-risk patient group was 5.74-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.81-18.20; P = 0.003) increase compared with low-risk patient group. Importantly, the positive correlation between OL-staging system and DNA content status was significant (P = 0.018, correlation coefficient = 0.292).ConclusionOur findings showed that DNA content status correlated with OL-staging system, suggesting that DNA content abnormality in OL as detected by image cytometry was an early event in oral carcinogenesis. The further large-scale prospective studies with clinical endpoints are warranted to validate the value of DNA image cytometry.