A clinico-morphological study of oral squamous cell carcinoma in pakistan

Objectives: To determine the clinicopathological features and histopathological grading of oral squamous cell carcinoma in local patients. Material and Methods: A total of 127 patients presenting with various histological subtypes and grades of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma were recruited. Clinical and gross examination findings including age, gender, laterality, site of tumor and ulceration had been recorded. Microscopically tumour subtype and histological grading according to Anneroth’s grading system was carried out. Results: The mean age of patients was 51.46±12.286 years and male to female ratio was 1.5:1 with 76 (59.8%) males and 51 (40.2%) females. The most common presenting complaint was non healing ulcer which was present in n=84 (66.1%) patients. Out of 127 patients well differentiated and moderately differentiated tumours were seen in (n=57, 44.9%) in each grade respectively whereas only (n=13, 10.2%) were poorly differentiated. The predominant site of involvement was tongue (46%) followed by buccal mucosa (39%). The statistical relation between gender and site of involvement it was found to be significant (p=0.01). Conclusion: The most common sites for OSCC are tongue and buccal mucosa. The most common histological subtype is conventional squamous cell carcinoma while well differentiated and moderately differentiated tumours form the largest number.