oral submucous fibrosis
Findings
No curated finding names oral submucous fibrosis yet. Everything below is reference data from Mondo, HPO and GenCC, not evidence about what affects it.
Definition
Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a chronic, progressive disease that alters the fibroelasticity of the oral submucosa, prevalent in India and Southeast Asia but rare elsewhere, and characterized by burning and pain in the oral cavity, loss of gustatory sensation, the presence of blanched fibrous bands and stiffening of the oral mucosa and oro-pharynx (leading to trismus and a progressive reduction in mouth opening) and an increased risk of developing oral squamous cell cancer (3-19%). It is usually associated with the chewing of the areca nut (an ingredient in betel quid) but the exact etiology is unknown and there is currently no effective treatment.
Definition from the Mondo Disease Ontology (MONDO:0018166), read 2026-09-29. CC BY 4.0.
Features
7 features
What the disease is reported to present with, and how often among people who have it — never how often a feature means the disease. HPO, annotations 2026-09-02.
- Abnormal oral cavity morphologyHPOHP:0000163
- Very frequent (80% to 99% of cases)
- Abnormality of the pharynxHPOHP:0000600
- Very frequent (80% to 99% of cases)
- CheilitisHPOHP:0100825
- Very frequent (80% to 99% of cases)
- Narrow mouthHPOHP:0000160
- Very frequent (80% to 99% of cases)
- Flexion contractureHPOHP:0001371
- Frequent (30% to 79% of cases)
- TrismusHPOHP:0000211
- Frequent (30% to 79% of cases)
- Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma
Where it sits
Other names
3 names
Resolves to: oral submucous fibrosis
- Also called
- oral cavity submucous fibrosisoral submucosal fibrosis, including of tongueOSMF