Prognostic value of histopathological grading systems in lip and tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Hannah Gil de Farias Morais; Leonardo Magalhães Carlan; Joyce Magalhães de Barros; Rodrigo Porpino Mafra; Everton Freitas de Morais; Éricka Janine Dantas da Silveira; Roseana de Almeida Freitas

doi:10.1016/j.oooo.2023.07.049

Prognostic value of histopathological grading systems in lip and tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2023 Aug 1:S2212-4403(23)00591-6. doi: 10.1016/j.oooo.2023.07.049. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Hannah Gil de Farias Morais¹, Leonardo Magalhães Carlan¹, Joyce Magalhães de Barros², Rodrigo Porpino Mafra¹, Everton Freitas de Morais³, Éricka Janine Dantas da Silveira¹, Roseana de Almeida Freitas⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral Pathology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
² ATENEU University Center, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
³ Piracicaba School of Dentistry, State University of Campinas, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Oral Pathology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39492302
DOI: 10.1016/j.oooo.2023.07.049

Abstract

Objective: We evaluated the prognostic value of 3 histopathological grading systems in lower lip squamous cell carcinoma (LLSCC) and oral tongue SCC (OTSCC) cases.

Methods: We examined 62 OTSCC cases and 69 LLSCC cases using the tumor budding/depth (BD), tumor-stroma ratio (TSR), and TSR/tumor budding models and analyzed the relationship between clinicopathological parameters and patient prognosis based on overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS).

Results: In OTSCC cases, T3 and T4 tumors were significantly associated with 5 or more tumor buds and a high BD score. In LLSCC cases, tumor budding was significantly associated with OS, BD score (OS and DFS, P < .001), and TSR/tumor budding score (OS, P = .002; DFS, P = .012). Invasion depth was also associated with OS in LLSCC (P = .019). Multivariate analysis revealed that tumor budding in LLSCC remained significantly associated with OS and BD risk score with DFS, demonstrating their independent prognostic value.

Conclusions: The BD grading system was associated with clinicopathologic parameters of greater aggressiveness in OTSCC, whereas the BD and TSR/tumor budding systems showed prognostic value in LLSCC. These findings suggest the potential use of these grading systems as adjuvant methods for prognostic analysis in patients with OTSCC and LLSCC.