Concomitant Association of Oral Submucous Fibrosis and Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Incidence of Malignant Transformation of Oral Submucous Fibrosis in a Population of Central India: A Retrospective Study.

AIM: To evaluate the incidence of oral squamous cell carcinoma concomitant with oral sub mucous fibrosis in central India and to correlate precipitating factors associated with oral submucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma. This paper also aims to study the incidence of oral squamous cell carcinoma arising secondary to untreated oral submucous fibrosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred and twenty five cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma and one hundred and nineteen cases of oral submucous fibrosis of various regions in oral cavity were included in the study. All the included cases were clinically and histopathologically diagnosed and retrospective data was retrieved.

RESULT: In the present study of 119 patients of oral submucous fibrosis, 97.4 % were found to have betel nut chewing habit. Incidence of malignant transformation to oral squamous cell carcinoma in patients of untreated oral submucous fibrosis was found to be 4.2 % in the present study. The incidence of oral cancer concomitant with oral submucous fibrosis was found to be 25.77 %, which is statistically significant.

CONCLUSION: From the present study, it is evident that the malignant potential of OSF is underestimated. However, considering the small sample size and the fact that the study was carried out in a small geographical area, further study with a larger sample size and longer duration of follow up on a multicentric basis may be required to reveal the actual malignant potential of the disease.