Expression of cytokeratin 18 and 19 in oral potentially malignant disorders: A systematic review

Abstract

The aim of this review is to evaluate the expression of cytokeratin 18 and 19 in oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD). Systematic review was performed using Medline and PubMed. Hand searches were taken from the back references. Articles published till 15 July 2014 were included in the search. The search yielded a total of 20 articles, out of which 16 articles were eliminated, as they did not fulfill the inclusion criteria and 4 articles were included for the final analysis. The available literature showed that cytokeratin 18 and 19 were expressed in all OPMDs. The level of expression varied among different oral, potentially malignant disorders and among different studies.