Oral lichen planus: an overview

Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic inflammatory muco-cutaneous disease. Since disorders of NK-cell functional activity could be observed in patients with LP, it is considered to be an autoimmune disease. The pathogenesis of LP is complex and not completely understood. The involvement of mucous membranes is frequently seen, usually asymptomatic, but occasionally complicated by extensive painful erosions, causing a considerable loss of quality of life. Patients with symptomatic oral lichen planus (OLP) often require intensive therapy to reduce the signs and symptoms of this painful and disabling inflammatory disease. OLP is considered to be a precancerous lesion for the development of squamous cell carcinomas. OLP is highly resistant to topical treatment and tends to pursue a chronic course with little tendency to spontaneous resolution. Until now meta-analysis provided little evidence for the superiority of the assessed interventions over placebo for palliation of symptomatic OLP.