Association of Candida in Different Stages of Oral Leukoplakia

Context: Leukoplakia represents the most common premalignant oral mucosal lesion. Candida albicans is frequently found in histologic sections of leukoplakia. Some Candida strains may have the potential to promote the development of oral cancer. Aim: The present study was undertaken to assess the role of Candida infection in different stages of leukoplakia and in different grades of dysplasia through cytological methods. Materials and methods: Thirty subjects with the diagnosis of leukoplakia were taken for the study. Another thirty subjects, who were age and sex matched with that of experimental subjects, were selected as control subjects. Based on the clinical examination and histopathological examination, required data were collected. Statistical analysis used: Mean, Chi-square test, ANOVA and Student-Newman-Keuls test were used for statistical analysis. Results: Of the 30 subjects with leukoplakia, 11 (37%) subjects were positive for Candida in the lesion and 19 (63%) subjects had no Candida in the lesion. Among the experimental subjects, 2 (14%) subjects with stage 1 lesion, 3 (43%) subjects with stage 2 lesion and 6 (67%) subjects with stage 4 lesion showed evidence of Candida. Of the 11 subjects who showed evidence of Candida, 2 (18%) subjects had Candida with no dysplasia, 3 (27%) subjects had Candida with mild dysplasia and 6 (55%) subjects had Candida with moderate dysplasia. Of the 19 subjects who have not shown evidence of Candida, 10 (53%) subjects were with no dysplasia, 6 (32%) subjects were with mild dysplasia and 3 (15%) subjects were with moderate dysplasia. Conclusions: Based on the present study, it could be concluded that as the stage of the lesion increases, the presence of Candida in the lesion also increases. In addition to this, we were able to show that the presence of Candida was more common in lesions with moderate dysplasia than in lesions with mild dysplasia or no dysplasia.