[Vascular microinvasion in laryngeal epidermoid carcinoma]

Microvascular invasion by carcinoma cells is one of the first steps for the potential development of metástasis. The presence of squamous cell carcinoma within capillaries and/or venules in the immediate vicinity of primary lesions of the oral cavity and oropharynx may be related to regional lymph node metastasis. To evaluate this possibility in laryngeal carcinomas we have reviewed the histopathologic features of 48 cases of this type of tumor with simultaneous surgical treatment of the primary neoplasms and the neck. In our opinion the histologic finding of such invasion is not pathognomonic for establishment of regional metástasis in epidermoid carcinoma of the larynx.