C-kit Expression in Oral Leukoplakia

Oral leukoplakia is the most common potentially malignant oral disorder. Oral leukoplakia's malignant potential is independent of the histopathological grade, and the malignant transformation rate varies greatly from 3% to 50% even in the case of severe epithelial dysplasia. Ethnic & environmental variables may contribute to this variation. C-kit immunohistochemistry was performed on 15 oral leukoplakia (OL), two oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and two dentigerous cysts (DC). The objective of this study was to evaluate the c-kit expression in oral leukoplakia. The use of various immunohistochemical markers to differentiate between OLs with a high and low risk of malignant transformation has been investigated. Only four OL exhibited a faint cytoplasmic expression in basal cells. Whereas, OSCC and DC were devoid of c-kit expression. Thus, this may not be a unique marker for identifying OL at high-risk. Further research with larger sample size is required. Key Words: CD 117, Disease progression, Oral dysplasia, Oral leukoplakia, Risk prediction.