Premalignant Lesions and Conditions

Key points

• • A premalignant lesion is an abnormal area of tissue that is more likely than normal to become cancer over time.
• • Examples in the mouth include leukoplakia (a white patch) and erythroplakia (a red patch), the red being the more dangerous.
• • In the skin, long-standing sun damage causes actinic keratosis, which can progress to squamous cell carcinoma.
• • In the gut, long-standing ulcerative colitis and colonic polyps carry a raised risk of bowel cancer.
• • Recognising and dealing with premalignant change early can prevent an invasive cancer from developing.