title: Premalignant laryngeal lesions.
abstract: Premalignant laryngeal lesions are classified into three classes according to the degree of atypia present: class I mild dysplasia, class II moderate dysplasia and class III severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ. The risk that a carcinoma may develop later increases in the successive classes. The lesions are almost exclusively localized on the vocal cords. It is mandatory to remove the whole lesion for histopathological examination. A close cooperation between pathologist and laryngologist is necessary. progress in the development of more subjective and reproducible methods of grading is being made. Patients with class I and class II lesions are merely followed after an excisional biopsy. There is not a single best treatment modality for class III lesions. Radiotherapy has proven to be effective. However, the concept of microsurgical removal of the complete lesion seems to enable a more conservative approach for this class as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lubsen
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Olde Kalter
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006652:Histological Techniques; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000145:classification* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000145:classification* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors