[Research progress of oral erythroplakia]

Oral erythroplakia is an rare oral disorder with relatively high potential of becoming malignant. It has a lower prevalence but a higher malignant transformation rate than oral leukoplakia. The etiology and pathogenesis of the disease is so far not clear, but several studies have pointed to tobacco chewing, tobacco smoking, and betel quid chewing with or without tobacco and alcohol usage as etiologic factors.The treatment methods are mainly surgical excision operations as well as laser treatment. However, the recurrence rate and the malignant transformation rate of oral erythroplakiaare high, thus long-term close follow-up is needed. In the present article, the definition, epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, histopathological characteristics, etiology and pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of oral erythroplakiaare reviewed.