Historical perspective and nomenclature of potentially malignant or potentially premalignant oral epithelial lesions with emphasis on leukoplakia-some suggestions for modifications.

Of the potentially (pre)maligant oral epithelial lesions, leukoplakia is the most common. A brief overview of the various definitions of leukoplakia that have been used in the past is presented here. A proposal has been made to modify the current definition. Clinically, for decades, leukoplakias have been divided into homogeneous and nonhomogeneous leukoplakias and further into different subtypes. A proposal has been made to slightly rearrange these subtypes. Furthermore, attention has been paid to a number of keratotic lesions that have been reported in the literature. It is expected that the increasing knowledge on carcinogenesis, including various genetic aspects, will be reflected in the definition of oral potentially (pre)malignant lesions in the near future.