Background and Objective:
Oral cancer is one of the most common malignancies that affect
human beings across the world and early detection of oral cancer is believed to reduce the morbidity
significantly. Fluorescence diagnosis is emerging as a promising method in the differentiation of
cancerous lesions and thus helping in the determination of resolution for the surgical resection of affected
area of malignancy very accurately. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of an
autofluorescence hand held device (OralID) to detect oral premalignant lesions.
Methods:
98 potentially high-risk oral cancer patients were divided into two groups (n=49/group).
Both the groups were first examined by conventional oral examination under white light and oral findings
were noted. Subjects under group B were further examined under fluorescence light through hand
held device, i.e. OralID. After the examinations, a surgical biopsy sample was taken from the suspected
lesions under local anaesthesia from both the groups to confirm the diagnosis through histopathological
analysis.
Results:
The positive potential malignant lesions (PMLs) observed in Group A when compared with
biopsy reporting was 89.47% true positive while in Group B was 95.24%. The sensitivity reported of
Group A was 89.47% and Group B was 97.56%. We observed 8.09% more sensitivity and 11.36%
more specificity when we incorporate adjunctive the fluorescence examination using OralID.
Conclusion:
Results from this study suggests that OralID is a true adjunct to conventional oral examination
in detecting early potential malignant changes in subjects visiting for regular dental check-up.