Imperative role of early diagnosis in precancerous lesions: Oldideas, new findings, yet more questions

In India, cancers of the oral cavity and oropharynx are most common of all malignancies. Over 90% of these tumors are squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), which arise from the oral mucosal lining. In spite of the ready accessibility of the oral cavity to direct examination, these malignancies still are often not detected until a late stage, and the survival rate for oral cancer has remained essentially unchanged over the past three decades. The purpose of this article is to review the clinical features of premalignant oral lesions, with an emphasis on early detection.