Malignant Transformation of Oral Leukoplakia and Proliferative Verrucous Leukoplakia and Its Biomarker Predictors: A Systematic Umbrella Review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Oral leukoplakia (OL) represents the most common oral potentially malignant disorder globally, with highly variable reported malignant transformation (MT) rates creating challenges for evidence-based clinical management.

Objective

To systematically synthesize evidence on MT prevalence in OL and evaluate potential predictive biomarkers through an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Methods

Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase databases through July 2025. Twenty-seven systematic reviews encompassing more than 125,000 patients were included. Meta-analyses were conducted using random-effects models, with quality assessed using AMSTAR 2 and GRADE approaches.

Results

Transformation rates were con

SUBMITTER: Fatih MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12703581 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature