Manas Dave looks at a recent review of which considers the efficacy of optical fluorescence imaging as an adjunct to clinical oral examination for the detection of oral mucosal lesions. The review includes 27 studies and provides evidence to support additional high quality studies to assess its effectiveness.
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Early detection of oral cancer improves prognosis so methods to improve diagnosis are welcome. The review we look at today looks at two light-based systems: chemiluminescence or autofluorescence. 25 studies were included and they are well summarised but few were tested in primary care. Neither system provided much improvement on the level of sensitivity and specificity achieved by conventional oral examination. Therefore it is suggested that these tools are better suited to specialist clinics in which there is a higher prevalence of disease and where experienced clinicians may better discriminate between benign and malignant lesions.
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