Cytomorphometric analysis of keratinized round cells in human oral carcinoma

During the present investigation, two types of keratinized round cells (KRCs), large keratinized round cells (LKRCs) and small keratinized round cells (SKRCs), were observed in the exfoliated buccal smears of oral cancer patients. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the practical utility of KRCs during difficult diagnosis and in the early detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) through cytomorphometric analysis.

In a hospital-based case control study, exfoliated scrape smears were collected from 136 patients clinically diagnosed as suffering from pre-cancerous lesions and OSCC and a parallel set of 136 samples were also collected from non-addicted and non-cancerous healthy individuals from different regions of Odisha, and this was considered as the control group. Wet-fixed smears were stained by adopting Papanicolaou's staining protocol and counter-stained with Giemsa's solution. One thousand cells were screened and keratinized round cells along with other cytological atypia were scored. Cytomorphometry was carried out using a computer-assisted Cat Cam 1.30 (1.3 Mega Pixel) microscope camera. The findings were statistically analyzed and interpreted with respect to oral sites, age groups and sexes.

Cytomorphometrically, the nucleus to cytoplasmic ratio of the LKRCs was 1:4.7 in males and 1:4.3 in females, and in SKRCs it was calculated to be 1:4.6 in males and 1:5.2 in females.

Cellular keratinization, hyperchromasia and increased N/C ratios in both LKRCs and SKRCs indicates the state of malignancy and thus the present finding has a practical value in early detection and diagnosis of OSCC patients.