Multiple histopathological parameters, influencing prognosis and survival of oral cancer patients

Many factors may influence survival in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, among which the most significant is metastasis to the lymph nodes. Advanced tumor stages with adverse histological features further reduce the chances of survival.

We analyzed the prognostic value of the available clinical and histological parameters to predict subclinical lymph node metastases and the chances of survival. We analyzed prognostic value of available clinical and histological parameters to predict subclinical nodal metastases and survival of patients. For that purpose we used a modification of Jakobsson’s (9) grading system proposed by Richard W. Nason (12) and applied it to a series of patients with oral carcinoma. It was found correlation between histological parameters and metastasis of cervical lymph nodes that showed a strong correlation between the type of invasion and its depth, vascular invasion and cervical metastases.

There is a strong correlation between the degree of malignancy and patient survival (p = 0,00001) – high malignancy is associated with poor prognosis. Systems to assess the malignancy based on histological parameters are useful in daily practice for selecting patients at high risk of occult metastases and for predicting aggressive behavior of neoplastic process.