Leukoplakia

Leukoplakia presenting as an irregular white patch on the mucosal aspect of the lower lip. The patient was a 56 y/o male with a 25-yr history of tobacco chewing. The two lesions on the right are healing biopsy sites. Microscopically, it showed marked surface keratosis with high-grade dysplasia. Leukoplakia is a descriptive clinical term which is defined as a white patch or plaque, at least 5 mm in size, that cannot be removed by rubbing. It is sometimes subclassified based on its appearance into homogenous, non-homogenous, and erythroplakia (which is red in color rather than white). Leukoplakia is considered a premalignant condition, although the risk of subsequent malignancy is low and has been reported to be between <1% to 6% in various studies. Case contributed by: Dr. Sanjay D. Deshmukh, Dept. of Pathology, Smt. Kashibai Navale Medical College, Pune, India.