Pathological tumor volume as a simple quantitative predictive factor of survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the eighth most common type of cancer in the world. Knowledge of prognostic factors of survival in OSCC is key. Several clinical and pathological prognostic factors have been investigated to develop a prognostic model of survival for patients with oral cancer. The present study focused on the association between pathological tumor volume (PTV) and overall survival time in patients with OSCC, regardless of cervical nodal status. The present study was a prospective study and covered 65 consecutive patients who received surgical treatment for oral cancer. The PTV was calculated according to dimensions of the postoperative specimen. Other pathological parameters as perineural and perivascular tumor spreading and extra-nodular propagation were also determined. The data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS 25.0 software. Cox PH regression model was built to analyze association between the PTV and survival time. Survival time was defined as the period from surgery to a target event or last contact. The results of the present study showed that PTV >4.24 cm³ was significantly associated with shorter overall survival time in patients with OSCC. The PTV value was higher in patients with metastasis and in patients with higher pathological tumor and node stage. In conclusion, PTV was an important pathological prognostic factor for survival in patients with OSCC.