Oral potentially malignant disorders: A scoping review of prognostic biomarkers. (September 2020) - Mello, Fernanda Weber
Highlights: The profile of 108 biomarkers was identified. Immunohistochemistry was the most common methodological approach. Podoplanin and DNA ploidy seem promising biomarkers for malignant transformation. Available evidence is not sufficient to validate any prognostic biomarker. These insights of the literature could benefit from further high-quality longitudinal studies. Abstract: This scoping review aimed to map evidence regarding biomarkers for malignant transformation of oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMD). Seventy-three longitudinal studies investigating prognostic biomarkers for OPMD malignant transformation were included, encompassing 5612 disorders and 108 biomarkers, of which 72 were investigated by immunohistochemistry. Most biomarkers were assessed in one or two studies, while five (p53, Ki-67, podoplanin, p16, and DNA ploidy) were analyzed in five or more studies. All studies investigating podoplanin (n = 8) reported a significant association between positive/high immunoexpression and malignant transformation. Similarly, all studies assessing DNA ploidy (n = 5) found that aneuploidy or gross genomic aberrations were significantly associated with malignant transformation. Included studies often presented mixed data from different OPMD subtypes, inadequate description of population characteristics, and lack of adjusted analysis for confounding factors. One hundred and eight biomarkers were identified and, from these, podoplanin immunoexpression and DNA ploidy were considered promising candidates for future long-term clinical research.