ABSTRACT
砄bjective: To evaluate the diagnostic significance of exfoliative cytological examination and micronucleus assay. Methods: 26 cases of leukoplasia (LK) and 18 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) were examined. Cells were scrapped from the lesions, stained with Papaniceolaou. The keratinization types and the configuration of the cells were studied. Smears were also stained using the Feulgen plus fast green method. The frequency of micronucleated cells was counted. Results: Mixed keratinization was observed in all 15 cases of LK without dysplasia and in 7 out of 11 cases of LK with dysplasia. Parakeratosis was found in 17 out of 18 cases of SCC. There was a significant difference of cell keratinization types and cytologic diagnosis between the cases of LK and SCC( P 0.05).Conclusion: Parakeratosis in oral exfoliative cells may indicate a high risk of malignance.