title: DNA content status using brush biopsy with image cytometry correlated with staging of oral leukoplakia: a preliminary study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral leukoplakia (OL) is the best-known potentially malignant disorder of oral cancer. The hypothesis was tested that DNA content abnormality may contribute to risk prediction of malignant potential of OL.
  
  
  METHODS
  All OLs were staged according to a clinicopathologic classification and OL-staging system. DNA content status was investigated in a blinded prospective series of OL using brush biopsy with image cytometry, and examined the correlation of DNA content with the clinicopathologic features and OL-staging system in this preliminary study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 65 patients with OL, 27 (41.5%) was identified as DNA content abnormality. The frequency (77.8%) of DNA content abnormality in tongue was higher than that (22.2%) in other oral sites (χ(2) test, P=0.038), and moderate or severe dysplasia had a higher frequency (63.0%) of DNA content abnormality than that (37.0%) of no or mild dysplasia (χ(2) test, P=0.022). Moreover, the odds ratio of DNA content abnormality in high-risk patient group was 5.74-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.81-18.20; P=0.003) increase compared with low-risk patient group. Importantly, the positive correlation between OL-staging system and DNA content status was significant (P=0.018, correlation coefficient=0.292).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings showed that DNA content status correlated with OL-staging system, suggesting that DNA content abnormality in OL as detected by image cytometry was an early event in oral carcinogenesis. The further large-scale prospective studies with clinical endpoints are warranted to validate the value of DNA image cytometry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Mucosal Diseases, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 639 Zhizaoju Road, Shanghai 200011, China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Mucosal Diseases, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 639 Zhizaoju Road, Shanghai 200011, China.
authors.forename: Linjun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Mucosal Diseases, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 639 Zhizaoju Road, Shanghai 200011, China.
authors.forename: Hongquan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Mucosal Diseases, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 639 Zhizaoju Road, Shanghai 200011, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral & Maxillofacial-Head & Neck Oncology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 639 Zhizaoju Road, Shanghai 200011, China. Electronic address: liuweb@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Mucosal Diseases, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 639 Zhizaoju Road, Shanghai 200011, China. Electronic address: zhouzengtong@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Zengtong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D004247:DNA
keywords: DNA content; Dysplasia; Image cytometry; Oral leukoplakia; Staging; Tongue