Diagnosed with oral leukoplakia History chronic tobacco chewing and smoking. Left addiction 3 months ago. My biopsy report hyperplastic squamous epithelium with no dysplasia and malignancy seen. Is it pre cancer Will it regress. Will it turn into cancer even if tobacco is stopped. Is this leukoplakia. There was also cheek biting. What is the treatment. Will the patch disappear.

Dr. Jawahar TickuOncologist45yrs exp

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Dear lybrate-user, oral leukoplakia is a pre malignant condtion. Not necessary all leukoplakia will turn into cancer. No smoking now will have bearing as further deterioration will not happen and if you maintain good oral hygiene it may start dis appearing but will take some time for clearance.  

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Dr. Shravan KumarOncologist18yrs exp

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Stop tobacco and its products. Keep oral hygiene good.  

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Dr. Nikhilesh BorkarOncologist14yrs exp

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Leukoplakia is any white patch in the mouth or pharynx/larynx, which does not have any other cause like candidiasis, lichen planus or cheek bite. If you have cheek bite, which is a linear line in the middle of the cheek, donot worry about it as it does not lead to increased risk of cancer. The Biopsy of cheek bite aswell as innocuous leukoplakia will show the same findings of hyperplastic epithelium. But the leukoplakia which is undergoing changes will show dysplasia. Leukoplakia is usually due to tobacco or supari has increased risk of cancer in about 1-10% of the cases. These are usually the verrucous, the thickened nodular or the speckled (with red dots), especially if on the floor of mouth or palate, for which we advise excision. Most of the other homogeneous leukoplakias either regress or remain static as surgery with or without laser leads to fibrosis, which will lead to decreased mouth opening opening. Irrespective of the Biopsy, for you it is better to keep a regular follow up with your head and neck or cancer surgeon because of the 16 times increased risk of cancer due to tobacco, which may occur without any leukoplakia or erythroplakia and please stay away from tobacco, supari and alcohol. Feel free to contact to contact me directly if you want to discuss this further. 

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