Differential Retrospective Analysis in Oral Cancerous, Pre-cancerous, and Benign Tissue Biopsies

Abstract

Background/Aim Oral epithelia demonstrate a broad spectrum of pre-cancerous, cancerous, and benign lesions. The aim of this study was to record and analyze the prevalence of various oral and intraosseous lesions, highlighting malignancies that are hard to clinically identify as such too. Materials and methods A series of 536 oral lesions were collected covering a period of 8.5 years. Epidemiological and clinico-histopathological data were stratified and analyzed retrospectively. Results According to extensive differential analysis, the male to female ratio for oral squamous cell carcinoma was estimated at 1:1, for pre-cancerous lesions at 1:2, and for lichen planus at 1:5. The prevalent diagnostic category were cysts (n = 223, 41.6%). The biological behavior of lesions differed among anatomic sites (P<0.001). Concordance between clinical suspicion of pre-cancerous or malignant lesions and histological verification was 96.4% (P<0.001). Conclusions Primary intraosseous squamous cell carcinoma, acinic cell carcinoma, clear cell myoepithelial carcinoma, aggressive osteoblastoma/parosteal osteosarcoma, and undifferentiated carcinoma raised no clinical suspicion of malignancy reflecting the importance of training in oral biopsy taking.