Laryngeal leukoplakia may be defined as a clinical description of any whitish lesions of the larynx, and histologically such lesion includes hyperplasia, keratosis, dysplasia, carcinoma in situ, and invasive carcinoma, and continues to be a
confusing
and controversial topic for both otolaryngologist and pathologist. Histopathological evaluation of these precancerous lesions is difficult and an unreliable predictor of progression to invasive cancer. This is largely due to the use of ambiguous
and
inconsistent terminology, the lack of unanimous agreement on the obtain a representative biopsy, and the subjectivity of the pathologist interpreting the biopsy. In the search for markers able to foretell clinical outcome, we performed
immunohistochemical staining Proliferating cell nuclear antigene (PCNA) as well as p53 in 23 laryngeal leukoplakia lesion, of which 7 progressed to invasive cancer. The lesions which progressed to invasive cancer showed a clear tendency towards a
higher
percentage of intense PCNA staining and more frequent p53 positivity. (Korean J Otolaryngol 38:11, 1995)
|