Cotton-swab cryotherapy for oral leukoplakia.

BACKGROUND Oral leukoplakia (OL) is a common oral precancerous lesion. Cotton-swab cryotherapy (CSC) is commonly used for treating skin lesions but is rarely used for treating OL lesions. METHODS Sixty OL lesions were treated by CSC once every 2 weeks until complete regression (CR) of the lesion had been achieved. RESULTS CR was achieved in all 60 OL lesions after an average of 6.3 treatments with cryotherapy. The number of CSC treatments required to achieve CR was significantly fewer for OL lesions on oral mucosal sites other than the tongue, those <2 cm2, those with epithelial dysplasia, and those with a surface keratin thickness of <55 microm. Multivariate analyses showed that only the location and area of the OL lesions were independent factors influencing the number of CSC treatments required to achieve CR. CONCLUSION For OL lesions with a mean surface area of < or = 1.8 cm2, CR can be achieved with fewer than 7 CSC treatments on average. CSC is a simple, safe, easy, conservative, and acceptable treatment modality for OL lesions.