| Summary: | Background: Globally, India accounts for highest incidence for oral cancer. Potential malignant disorders precede development of oral cancers. Leukoplakia is the one of the most common potentially malignant disorders and tobacco is a known risk factor for oral cancer. Role of viruses in oral carcinogenesis is not yet clear and its association with oral cancer has been a debated topic. The present study was aimed to evaluate the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in oral leukoplakia using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Methodology: Fifty clinicopathologically confirmed oral leukoplakia cases were included in the study. Detection of HPV was done using PCR and further validated with IHC. Results: Among 50 subjects with oral leukoplakia, 43 specimens were reported as HPV positive through PCR and IHC confirmed p16 positivity in 5 specimens. Conclusion: Study showed lower a prevalence of HPV in oral leukoplakia. Whenever in doubt, combined tests would often be beneficial for the detection of HPV.
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