Oral Leukoplakia: Clinical, Histopathologic, and Molecular Features and Therapeutic Approach

Dermatology departments are currently seeing an increase in the number of cases of oral diseases. Of note among the range of lesions covered by this broad area of knowledge is oral leukoplakia—the most common precancerous lesion and the most problematic in terms of both diagnosis and therapeutic management. In addition to defining leukoplakia, this review also establishes a differential diagnosis with the other most important oral diseases and analyzes the different clinical, histologic, and molecular features that can provide an indication of the risk of malignant transformation. Finally, a therapeutic algorithm is presented to help us optimize clinical management of the disease.