Oral cancer screening in Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital and steps of management for potentially malignant lesions: a case report

Abstract

          Oral cancer is the most 6th common cancer. The therapeutic outcome will be optimal if the lesion is early detected, small, and there is no cervical lymph node involvement. Asymptomatic oral lesions such as change in color, unusual characteristic, tumor mass, rough surface, are considered valid for further investigations for malignancy. And herein, one oral lesion managements is described as a case report. She was a 70-year-old woman presenting with the mucosal tumor at the upper lip for a month. The mass gradually grew without pain. She was a regular betel nut chewer. The oral physical examination revealed a mucosal cauliflower mass, 2x3 cm at the upper lip, no cervical lymphadenopathy. The provisional diagnosis of verrucous carcinoma was proposed. The biopsy from the lesion was promptly performed and microscopically found to be hyperplasia without atypia and mild chronic inflammation. Because the lesion was wide, the patient was requested for totally wide excision with LASER. The operation site was much improved within two weeks. The microscopic pathology was verrucous carcinoma in situ. The lesion never recurred again after the operation. The early resection for the potentially malignant lesion in the oral cavity according to the Korat Model was helpful for curing the oral cancer in this case.