Oral lichen planus: epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and associated diseases

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease, the cause of which remains unknown. In the last few years, significant advances have been made in understanding the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. Data on HLA markers for OLP vary depending on the population studied. OLP is a disease primarily of adults (50 to 55 years of age) and predominantly affects women. Any site in the oral cavity may be involved, but the buccal mucosa and gingiva are the most common sites. OLP can have different clinical presentations, with the reticular, erosive, and atrophic types being the most commonly reported. OLP has been reported to be associated with different medical conditions such as diabetes, hepatitis C infection, liver disease, and oral cancer. With the exception of oral cancer, there are not good data to support such associations. The question that remains to be answered is why we see a higher prevalence of oral carcinoma in patients with OLP. The relative prevalence from our series was 1.2%. Therefore, we believe patients with OLP have a higher risk for oral cancer and should be monitored for malignant transformation once a year.