Oral leukoplakia: a proposal for uniform reporting

Leukoplakia is the most common precancerous lesion of the oral mucosa. In order to promote uniform reporting of management results, including the event of malignant transformation, recommendations have been made for the various definitions and terminologies, including the application of a certainty factor with which the diagnosis of oral leukoplakia has been established. For reporting purposes there seems to be no rationale for distinguishing "tobacco-associated" leukoplakias from non-tobaccco-associated, so-called idiopathic leukoplakias. The recommendation has been made to use a classification and staging system in which the size and the histopathologic findings are reflected. At present, there seems to be no justification to give a weighting factor to the oral subsite of leukoplakias.