Molecular and Cytopathological Determinants of Malignant Transformations in Oral Leukoplakia: A Meta-Analytic Synthesis of AgNOR, DNA Ploidy, Cytokeratin, and Podoplanin Evidence
Molecular and Cytopathological Determinants of Malignant Transformations
Keywords:
Oral Leukoplakia, Oral Neoplasms, Epithelial Dysplasia, Biomarkers, Tumor, Disease ProgressionAbstract
Background: The diagnosis of Oral leukoplakia exists as one of several potentially cancer-causing oral disorders that frequently precede the development of oral cancer. Such lesions occur as white tissue with an unknown origin and demonstrate various degrees of dysplastic change in the epithelial cells. The dysplastic condition functions as a critical component that leads to cancer formation. The research reviews diagnostic features and prognostic indicators of leukoplakia, which contributes to cancer transformation by examining dysplasia categories and lesional characteristics. Methodology: The research adopted a thorough database search in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science according to PRISMA protocols. Observational studies, together with retrospective cohort research, evaluated oral malignancy from leukoplakia. Researchers studied three main outcome groups, including clinical indicators as well as histopathological features, together with molecular data. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used for evaluating study quality. Results: Research findings showed that epithelial dysplasia, together with AgNOR count and DNA ploidy analysis, and biomarker expression tests, all demonstrated meaningful connections to malignant cell transformation risk markers. Research has determined that CK13/17 expression and podoplanin measurement levels act as indicators that help predict disease progression. The study results demonstrated that specific markers delivered steady evidence about their connection with increased cancer cell transformation frequency. The reliability ratings of most studies were measured as moderate to high through their risk of bias assessment. Conclusion: A combined analysis of tissue structure examination and molecular data improves the ability to diagnose leukoplakia as an oral malignancy indicator and enhances risk estimation.
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