Lack of association between denture trauma and loss of heterozygosity confronts the proposed pathologic role of chronic mucosal trauma in oral carcinogenesis.

Chronic mucosal trauma is suggested as an additional etiologic risk factor for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), but there is a lack of experimental-molecular data. If chronic trauma of the oral mucosa is carcinogenic, it should be associated with early genetic alterations seen during typical progression of OSCC, like loss of heterozygosity (LOH). We investigated LOH in the key chromosomal arms 3p, 9p and 17p in inflammatory fibrous hyperplasia associated with removable dental prosthesis and also in normal oral mucosa, by using the polymorphic microsatellite markers D3S1300 at 3p14.