Hi Doc glad your awake and in full form

Another for your brain to get around we hear catch the cancer early and you can be cured but they dont tell you the surgery is just as bad for catching it early and I think they shouldnas for the radio no thanks did not have that and wont after hearing pauls story. could a precancer never devkeop into full blowb oral cancer sorry about spelling or does it always develop if so what stops it developing hope pikemaqn can understand it this time so write it in english please

Well Madam - did you understand all those technicalities? There are quite a few words there that aren't in my dictionary, admittedly it's only a 1500 pager.

Quite seriously though, I really would like to hear in relatively plain English just whatit all meant.

Hi Blitz

You asked:

quote:

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Could a precancer never develop into full blown oral cancer, or does it always develop. If so, what stops it developing

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Patients diagnosed with idiopathic leukoplakia have the highest risk of developing cancer. Leukoplakia has been defined as a whitish plaque that cannot be characterized clinically or pathologically as any other disease and is not associated with any physical or chemical causative agent except the use of tobacco.

In studies of these patients, 4-17% had malignant transformation of the lesions in less than 20 years. Risk of developing malignancies at lesion sites is 5 times greater in patients with leukoplakia than without leukoplakia. The location of the leukoplakia is significant in terms of the degree of dysplastic or malignant changes, with the floor of the mouth and the ventral surface of the tongue being especially high risk. Although leukoplakia is more common in men than in women, women with leukoplakia have a higher risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma . In spite of tobacco's known role in the development of oral carcinoma, the malignant transformation rate of leukoplakia in nonsmokers is higher than in smokers .

:geek: Professor Scully's article on Oral Leukoplakia discusses risk, treatment and measures that might reduce the risk.

Best wishes
Vinod :coffee:

Hi Doc

4 to 17% in less than twenty years dont seem bad odds to me especially if your in fifities or sixties when growth rate is much slower