Studies of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue(TSCC), with Focus on Histological Factors

Sammanfattning: Squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN) is a diverse group of tumours includingtumours of the mouth, of which most are manifested in the tongue. Previous studies have shown that assessment of histological risk factors including worstpattern of invasion (WPOI) and lymphocytic response (LR) is of clinical relevance in treating SCCHN. It hasalsobeen suggested that evaluation of the inflammatory infiltrate could be of prognostic importance.The purpose of this study was to further investigate, analyze and map histological factors associated with TSCC.A total of 58biopsies fromtwo different ethnic groups,Swedish and Italian,were evaluated regarding factors like WPOI andLR. Results were thencorrelated to clinical data.Approximately halfof the patients, 53%, displayed patches ofdense lymphocytic infiltrate at the tumour interface. There was,however,no statistically relevant correlation seen between LR, recurrence of disease, survival rate or ethnicity. Considering WPOI, 83% of patients showed a tumour growth pattern withsmall invasive islands <15 cells (WPOI 4). No correlationbetween WPOI, recurrence of disease, survival rate, ethnicity or lymphocyticresponse was found.Our findings confirm that SSC of the tongue hasa very split patternof invasion. No conclusive result was found concerning inflammatory response and prognostic factors. Data collected showed that ethnic differences could potentiallybe of interest for further study of the prevalence of tongue SCC.