Background: Leukoplakia is most common premalignant lesion of the oral cavity. Candida albicans is the most common fungal species isolated from oral leukoplakia. Malignant transformation of Leukoplakia has been linked to several factors like habits, duration of lesion, location, clinical appearance and presence of Candida albicans.This study was done on 50 healthy individuals with oral leukoplakia to determine the prevalence of Candida in leukoplakia and to examine the relationship between presence & absence of Candida with the histological feature and to determine the possible role of Candida in its malignant transformation. Method: The presence of Candida was determined by microscopic examination of gram stain section & by culture. Biopsy material was obtained from all lesions for histological grading. Result: Association between occurrence of Candida & type of leukoplakic lesion clinically & histologically were observed. 82% of non-homogeneous leukoplakic lesions yielded Candida & 89% histologically grade 3 lesions were found to be associated with presence of Candida in smear. Conclusion: Findings implicates possible role of Candida albicans in transformation of untreated leukoplakia into malignancy.

Key words: Candida albicans; Oral leukoplakic lesions; Malignant transformation.