Application of molecular techniques in the rapid diagnosis of EBV-associated oral hairy leukoplakia

A rapid method for the detection of EBV-DNA in paraffin sections of lesions of oral hairy leukoplakia (OHL) is described. The method makes use of advances in molecular technology, including the use of synthetic oligonucleotides with digoxigenin labelling in an in situ hybridisation (ISH) reaction, which can be completed in 24 h. Using this method, sections from 15 of 17 patients clinically diagnosed as having OHL contained readily detectable EBV-DNA in small foci along the upper layers of the stratum spinosum. The sections examined from the two remaining patients appeared to be EBV-DNA negative but both patients were on AZT therapy and one was in addition receiving acyclovir.