Publication Date:
2012-08-03
Description:
Introduction Currently more than 200 types of human papillomaviruses (HPV) have been classified, where the low-risk ones are those that are not capable of developing into cancer while the high-risk ones are. 1 Cervical cancer and its preceding lesions have been strongly associated with HPV, mainly through the high-risk 16/18 strains. Due to morphological similarities between the cervical mucosa and the upper aerodigestive tract, it is suggested that HPV be proposed as an aetiological factor in the developing of oral cancer. 2 In 1978, WHO defined leukoplakia as a white plaque of oral mucosa, not removable by scraping, which cannot be characterised clinically or pathologically as any other disorder. 3 Recent publications have grouped leukoplakia with lesions that precede oral cancer or those that are potentially malignant. 4 HPV's role in the aetiology and malignisation of precancerous oral lesions has been studied; however, the results...
Print ISSN:
0021-9746
Electronic ISSN:
1472-4146
Topics:
Medicine
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