Prognostic relevance of Ki-67 antigen expression in 329 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma

Prognostic relevance of Ki-67 staining in oral squamous cell carcinomas was investigated by immunohistochemical expression in 329 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity due to a formamide pretreatment. The growth fraction (Ki-67 labelling index, LI) was correlated to histopathological grading, lymphocytic reaction, stroma/tumour proportion, pattern of invasion, mitotic rate, degree of keratinisation, tumour size, thickness of tumor, depth of invasion, lymph node involvement and five-year survival rate. Highly significant inverse correlation was found between the Ki-67 LI, the stroma/tumour proportion and the degree of keratinisation whereas no correlation could be established between the Ki-67 LI and all the other histological and clinical paramters. Ki-67 staining alone has no prognostic relevance in oral cancer.