Role of oral exfoliative cytology in predicting premalignant potential of oral submucous fibrosis: A short study.

The present study was undertaken with an aim of determining the cytological features observed in mucosal smears of oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) patients and comparing them with that of features of normal mucosal cells. The observed features were than analyzed for their reliability in detecting malignant changes in this premalignant condition. Objective of the study was to conduct an oral exfoliative cytology (OEC) study on 30 clinically diagnosed cases of OSF and 30 cases of clinically normal mucosa with no other systemic disease. We observed that all the smears from clinically normal buccal mucosa showed Class I cytology. The exfoliated cells were of normal size and shape with normal staining intensity and normal nuclear characteristics. All the 30 cases of our study group showed features suggestive of benign atypical cytological changes (Class II cytology). In the present study, despite the small number of cases, cytological features consistently observed in all the cases, were indicative of a premalignant change and emphasized a regular follow-up of patients. Early detection of a premalignant oral lesion promises to improve the survival rate of patients suffering from these conditions.