Tumor angiogenesis as a prognostic factor in early oral tongue cancer

To evaluate the relationship between tumor angiogenesis and the subsequent development of cervical node metastases in patients with stage 1 carcinoma of the oral tongue.

The study group consisted of 25 patients with T1 carcinoma with no evidence of neck disease at presentation. Paraffin blocks from 10 patients, in whom neck node metastases were found shortly after surgery, were stained for factor VIII and compared with those from 10 randomly chosen patients in whom no evidence of recurrent disease was observed during prolonged followup. Microvessels were counted in each group.

The microvessel counts correlated with metastatic disease. The mean +/- SD count was 103.41 +/- 40.72 per X 250 field in the patients with positive lymph node metastases and 50.03 +/- 13.74 per X 250 field in those with no lymph node metastases during follow-up (P < or = .05).

The number of microvessels per X 250 field in the area of most intensive neovascularization in early oral tongue carcinoma may be an independent predictor of nodal metastases. Assessment of tumor angiogenesis may therefore prove valuable in selecting patients with early oral tongue carcinoma for aggressive therapy.