[Oral squamous cell carcinoma and oral epithelial dysplasia : Pre- and postoperative diagnostics]

Among non-cutaneous head and neck tumours, oral squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most common entities and is clinically characterized by functionally limiting therapies and a high recurrence rate. The majority of oral squamous cell carcinomas arise from potentially malignant diseases of the oral mucosa, which are often biopsied for preventive and diagnostic purposes. This article provides the histological criteria for grading oral epithelial dysplasia, with a scheme to help classify p53 staining and estimate prognosis. As oral cancer is still a morphologically defined entity, the histological subtypes and prognostic parameters that can be determined by light microscopy are presented. Future treatment approaches are outlined, which cannot be compared to other tumour entities due to the lack of therapeutically useful molecular alterations in oral squamous cell carcinoma.