Introduction

Abstract

Currently, the most effective way to control oral cancer is to combine early diagnosis and timely as well as appropriate treatment. Precancerous and cancerous oral lesions may mimic number of benign oral conditions appearing as a white or red spot. Until now, tissue harvesting by scalpel biopsy and subsequent histological examination have been the gold standard for diagnosing premalignant and malignant oral diseases. Identifying additional diagnostic tools would be welcome to improve analysis of any suspicious lesion. The basic requirements for a useful diagnostic technique include the following: easy to use, causes minimal patient discomfort, and collects sufficient material. Ideally, a diagnostic procedure should be neither time-consuming nor complicated and, in addition to high sensitivity, should have the potential for automation. The oral cytology technique is simple, nonaggressive, relatively painless, tolerated well by patients and optimally meets all of these requirements, particularly when it is supplemented by various adjunctive methods like image analysis and molecular probes.