Ronald Laeijendecker, Theodoor van Joost, Marti C. Kuizinga, Bhupendra Tank, H. A. Martino Neumann
DOI: 10.1080/00015550510036676

The issue as to whether oral lichen planus is a premalignant disorder is still controversial. This study aimed to examine oral malignancies associated with oral lichen planus and to investigate whether oral lichen planus has an intrinsic malignant potential or whether there are also contributing external risk factors. A retrospective cohort study in 200 Caucasian patients with oral lichen planus was conducted between 1991 and 2003. Aspects such as sex, age, clinical variant, affected anatomical sites, duration of the disease, histopathology, prior immunosuppressive treatment, exposure to potential carcinogens and other concomitant diseases were examined. Histopathological examination was repeated during the follow-up if a malignancy was suspected. Three (1.5%) of the 200 patients developed an oral squamous cell carcinoma at the same site following the initial diagnosis of oral lichen planus after a period of 3