Regular clinical follow-up of oral potentially malignant disorders results in improved survival for patients who develop oral cancer

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether clinical follow-up programs of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD) result in earlier detection and improved survival rates if malignant transformation occurs, as compared to OPMD patients without follow-up and other patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three OSCC groups were retrospectively studied for disease stage at diagnosis and survival rates (N = 739): Group A, patients with OSCC with regular follow-up of preceding OPMD (N = 94); Group B, patients with OSCC with preceding OPMD but no follow-up (N = 68); Group C, patients with OSCC without previously known OPMD diagnosis (N = 577). RESULTS: The patients with OPMD with follow-up (Group A) was diagnosed at a significantly earlier stage and have significantly higher survival rates compared to Group B (p < 0.001 and p = 0.022, respectively) and Group C (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). There was no significant difference between Group B and Group C in terms of survival rate (p = 0.143) or stage at diagnosis (p = 0.475). Patients with OPMD and follow-up (Group A) had a 5-year net survival rate of 90.0% (95%CI 80.3-100.8%), as compared to 68.3% percent (95% CI 54.5-85.7) for Group B and 56.1% (95% CI 51.4-61.3) for Group C. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that regular follow-up of patients with OPMD results in earlier detection of OSCC (if malignant transformation occurs) and improved survival.