Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral tongue: histopathological parameters associated with outcome

The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of the histological risk assessment model proposed by Brandwein-Gensler et al. in a cohort of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) patients treated with definitive surgery. We also examined the impact of additional histopathological features on disease acceleration. The cases of 49 OTSCC patients attending our institution between 1995 and 2009, who underwent definitive surgical resection followed by adjunct chemoradiotherapy when indicated, were reviewed retrospectively. Surgical resection specimens and complete clinical and demographic data were available for these patients; follow-up was at least 6 months. In this cohort we only identified a correlation between gender and the histopathological risk model score (P<0.001). With regard to clinical and demographic data, histopathological parameters, and disease status at last follow-up, we identified significant correlations between disease status and (1) grade of differentiation (P=0.0086), and (2) keratin score (P=0.026). We found no significant correlations between the histopathological risk assessment model and disease progression or outcomes, with the exception of gender (P<0.0001). Grade of differentiation, keratin score, and the lymphocytic host response significantly impacted disease acceleration. For OTSCC, it appears that clinical characteristics of the tumour as well as histopathological markers play an important role in the outcome. Efforts towards identifying predictive markers should be continued, especially by sub-site of the oral cavity.