Researchers from the ibs.GRANADA determine that oral cancer that comes from lichen planus disease has a better prognosis

This study, published by scientists at the ibs.Granada in the Oral Oncology magazine, opens new strategies in the early diagnosis and treatment of this type of cancer

The digestive system, cancer and nephropathies research group of the Biosanitary Research Institute of GRANADA (ibs.GRANADA), through a systematic review and meta-analysis, has shown that oral carcinoma developed from the autoimmune disease of lichen planus has a better prognosis and a higher survival rate than those who do not come from this disease.

Oral lichen planus, recently classified by the WHO as a precancerous lesion, is a disease of unknown cause that is currently classified as an autoimmune process. This implies that it is the immune system itself that, due to an alteration in its functioning, does not recognize as its own some structures of the epithelium of the oral mucosa, developing an autoaggression that generates the symptoms and signs of this disease. Like all autoimmune diseases, it occurs in a chronic form, so far there is no curative treatment. According to the ibs.GRANADA scientists, it is estimated that oral lichen planus affects 1.43% of the population, being especially frequent in people over 40 years of age.

Along these lines, this research group has identified that more than 2% of patients with oral lichen planus will develop oral cavity cancer during the course of their disease.

Oral cavity cancer is a frequent neoplasm that presents a poor prognosis, despite being located in an area that can be explored very easily, allowing an early diagnosis of these cancers, contributing to a prognosis that would be more favorable. However, the reality of this tumor is that it behaves aggressively, generating approximately 50% mortality at five years and severe complications related to its treatment. To date, however, there was no study that determined with precision and based on solid scientific evidence, what is the prognosis of oral cancers that develop from oral lichen planus lesions.

The results of this research carried out by these scientists from the area of cancer of the ibs.GRANADA, show what would be the prognosis of oral cancer developed on lichen planus. After studying 10.505 patients with oral lichen planus through meta-analysis, it is concluded that carcinomas developed in some of these patients have a better prognosis than undeveloped oral carcinomas on lichen planus.

Specifically, patients with carcinoma evolving from a lichen planus have a mortality at five years (15% of cases) significantly lower than that presented by conventional oral carcinomas (50% at 5 years), also developing lesions of smaller size and with less metastatic capacity. The reasons for this more favorable behavior are unknown at the moment, but this study opens a new avenue of research on the prognosis of cancers developed by the evolution of precancerous lesions.

About the research group

The digestive system, cancer and nephropathy research group, led by Raimundo García del Moral and Miguel Ángel González Moles, is a translational applied research group in cancer, gynecopathology and immunopathology. His main line of research focuses on the identification of new markers of prognostic and diagnostic interest in cancer.

He also investigates the pathology of oral squamous cell carcinoma, essentially aimed at the analysis of cell proliferation markers in premalignant epithelia and tumor tissue, as well as the study of proliferation-stimulating proteins. In recent years, the main line of the group has been directed to the field of expression of cancer stem cell markers in premalignant epithelium and oral cancer. At present, through digital pathology and computational pathology tools, this research group is developing learning models by deep-learning as a new line in cancer research.

More information about the group at https://www.ibsgranada.es/grupos-de-investigacion/a04-aparato-digestivo-cancer-nefropatias/

Bibliographic reference:

González-Moles MÁ, Warnakulasuriya S, González-Ruiz I, González-Ruiz L, Ayén Á, Lenouvel D, Ruiz-Ávila I, Ramos-García P. Clinicopathological and prognostic characteristics of oral squamous cell carcinomas arising in patients with oral lichen planus : A systematic review and a comprehensive meta-analysis. Oral Oncol. 2020 Jul; 106: 104688.