Valuation of exfoliative cytology as prediction factor in oral mucosa lesions

The aim of this study was immunolabeling oncoproteins Ck14, p53, p21 and Bcl-2 in order to evaluate their expression in premalignant and malignant stomatological lesions in oral epithelial, and to compare this expression with exfoliative cytology alterations in the same patients. It was studied biopsies and cytologies of 13 subjects with oral lichen planus, with or without Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), leukoplakia and squamous cell carcinoma clinically diagnosed and confirmed by anatomopathological studies. The oral lichen planus lesion presented binuclei orange cells; and in leukoplakia lesions only orange stained was observed; meanwhile koilocytes, inflammatory cells, enlarge nuclear volume and pathogenic microorganisms were observed in the HPV infections and squamous cells carcinoma (SCC). The Ck14, p53, p21 and Bcl-2 proteins were found modified in the leukoplakia, oral lichen planus and cancer. Cytological alterations and positive immunolabeling or over-expression of Ck14 cytokeratine in the upper epithelial stratus should be indicator of malignant transformations as doing subsequence exams.