Predicting premalignant potential of osmf using oral exfoliative cytology: original research

Aim: To determine and compare the cytological features in mucosal smears of oral submucous fibrosis patients with normal cells.
Materials & methods: Total 60 patients were included in the study in which 30 were clinically diagnosed cases of oral submucous fibrosis and 30 were healthy controls between the age group of 17 to 78 years of either gender. The study was conducted within the duration of 3 months after the ethical clearance. Oral exfoliative cytology (OEC) was performed on both buccal mucosae of each group and stained under Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) stain with further evaluation under microscope.
Result: In the present study it was observed that 3(10%) out of 30 OSMF cases, showed class I cytology, 21(70%) and 6 (20%) showed class II and class III cytology respectively.
Conclusion: OEC is a useful early diagnostic method for detection of epithelial atypia and is an adjunct to biopsy in premalignant cases and makes screening of cancer easy to manage as more number of cases can be screened in less time.