The pathology of head and neck tumors: verrucous carcinoma, Part 15

Verrucous squamous cell carcinoma is a distinctive clinicopathologic entity. The lesion's biologic activity places it between conventional (nonverrucous) carcinomas and nonautochthonous hyperplasias of squamous epithelium. The diagnosis of the lesion requires full communication and cooperation between surgeon and pathologist. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, the selection of surgery over radiotherapy should be based on the recorded effectiveness of each modality and not on the phenomenon of anaplastic transformation reported to follow radiotherapy.