A Correlative Histocytological Study of Carcinoma and Epithelial Atypia of the Palate Among Indian Reverse Smokers

A correlative histocytological study was made of 6 patients with palatal carcinomata and 342 patients with palatal lesions (primarily leukoplakias) associated with reverse smoking from the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. Among 6 histologically diagnosed carcinomata only 2 showed cytological findings typical of carcinoma. Of the 46 atypias diagnosed histologically among the other palatal lesions, only 6 (13%) were diagnosed cytologically. Our findings show that cytological examination of precancerous and cancerous lesions located on the hard palate, which is a highly keratinized area of the oral cavity, may not be reliable enough for revealing premalignant or malignant changes.