Comparison of epithelial dysplasia--the 4NQO rat palate model and human oral mucosa.

Epithelial dysplasia in the rat palatal mucosa was induced by application three times a week of the carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO). With the Epithelial Atypia Index (EAI), the successive stages of 4NQO-induced epithelial dysplasia were compared with specimens of human oral epithelial dysplasia. It appeared that there was a close similarity between the histologic features of 4NQO-induced dysplasia in the rat palatal mucosa and human oral epithelial dysplasia. Thus, the 4NQO rat palate model seems to be appropriate to study and assess new treatment modalities of premalignant epithelial lesions of the oral mucosa in man.