Oral cancer is a major problem in the Indian subcontinent as it ranks among the top three types of cancer in the country. The ability to detect the presence of oral cancer at an early stage or to predict which oral precancer will eventuate to cancer will reduce the mortality and morbidity and offers the best chance for long term survival. Among precancerous lesions and conditions, oral leukoplakia (OLP) is the most common pre-malignant lesion and may be homogeneous and non-homogeneous. Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a chronic condition characterized by mucosal rigidity of varying intensity due to fibroelastic transformation of the juxta-epithelial layer. OSF is a high-risk precancerous condition (Pindborg et al., 1984) with a malignant transformation rate of about 7.6%. Areca nut chewing could be one of the most important etiologic factors in OSF. Presently no satisfactory treatment for OSF has been described; although a wide range of treatment modalities have been proposed.

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