Clinicopathologic Features of Oral Verrucous Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

To further characterize the clinicopathologic features of oral verrucous carcinoma.

In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review of the Medline, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane databases was performed in search of articles evaluating clinicopathologic features of oral verrucous carcinoma. Primary outcomes of interest included tumor subsites, T-staging, rates of cervical lymph node metastases, rates of distant metastases, 5-year survival (overall, disease-free, or disease-specific), and recurrence rates. Meta-analysis was performed using a random effects model.

Nineteen articles with a total of 1458 subjects were ultimately included in the analysis. There were 17 studies with a total of 1353 patients reporting verrucous carcinoma subsites and the buccal mucosa (59.2%, 55.1%-63.3%) (I² = 98.1%) had the highest incidence of involvement. There were 10 papers with 277 patients reporting on rates of cervical lymph node metastases from surgical pathology yielding a pooled rate of 0% (0%-2.3%) (I² = 1%). There were 14 studies with a collective 712 patients commenting on rates of distant metastases and collectively, none were reported, yielding a pooled rate of 0% (0%-0%) (I² = 0%). Five year survival data was generally favorable relative to oral squamous cell carcinoma but was insufficient for meta-analysis.

An international collection of evidence supports that pure oral verrucous carcinoma is a relatively indolent, non-metastasizing malignancy associated with areca nut consumption. A reliance on traditional squamous cell carcinoma staging and treatment algorithms for verrucous carcinoma patients can predispose to overtreatment.