A recent study supports the role of tissue autofluorescence in oral cancer screening.
The study, "Accuracy of Autofluorescence in Diagnosing Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders: A Comparative Study with Aero-Digestive Lesions" was published in Scientific Reports, an online, open access journal from the publishers of Nature, a weekly international scientific journal, according to a press release from LED Dental, the makers of VELscope.
The study was a meta-analysis of previously published data to assess the accuracy of autofluorescence in diagnosing OSCC and OPMD. It reported the findings of statistical analyses conducted on 24 previously reported studies detecting OSCC and OPMD in 2,761 total lesions.
The study reported a pooled sensitivity and specificity of the use of autofluorescence for the detection of OSCC and OPMD of 0.89 and 0.80 respectively and concluded autofluorescence is a promising, non-invasive tool for early diagnosis of OSCC and OPMD. The study’s authors also said using autofluorescence technology as an adjunctive imaging tool may be most reliable in the hands of oral specialists but that the use of promising clinical decision making algorithms could facilitate its adoption in primary care.
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