Classification and grading of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix

Two hundred and twenty three cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix were classified according to their resemblance to cells in any of the layers in the ectocervix and a grade of low and high malignancy was also given to each case. Forty cases were classified as basal, 59 as prickle, 115 as intermediate and nine as superficial cell types. Ninety cases were high grade (seven basal, 14 prickle, 63 intermediate and six superficial) and 133 were low grades (33 basal, 45 prickle, 52 intermediate, three superficial). This study shows that the intermediate cell type is the commonest and are usually high grade tumours. The findings also support the idea that squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix may arise from any of the normal layers in ectocervix and suggests that squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix is not a single disease entity, but heterogenous group of tumours like the non-Hodgkin's B cell or T cell lymphomas. Further study is needed to correlate the cytokeratin subtypes and clinical features of each histological type.