Lewei Zhang, Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues analyzed samples from 296 patients with mild-to-moderate (low-grade) oral dysplasia to classify the risk of progression based on a previously proposed loss of heterozygosity model.

The researchers found that five-year progression rates were 3.1 percent for patients classified as low risk, 16.3 percent for those classified as intermediate risk, and 63.1 percent for those classified as high risk. The risk of progression was 11.6-fold greater in patients at intermediate risk and 52.1-fold greater in patients at high risk, compared with those at low risk. The model was validated in an independent group of patients.

"In summary, this study provides the first validated molecular models for use in differentiating low-grade oral dysplasia at low risk for progression from those with greater risk, via the largest longitudinal study of low-grade oral premalignant lesions from a population-based patient group," Zhang and colleagues conclude.

Abstract
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