Morphological changes of regional lymph node in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity.
BACKGROUND
Regional immune responses with various types of cancer have been studied histopathologically, however, the prognostic value remains conflicting. The aim of this study was to evaluate morphological changes related to lymph node metastasis and the prognostic value for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.


METHODS
With histopathologic whole architecture of 430 lymph nodes, gross area, germinal center (GC) area, paracortical area (PA), and tumor area were measured.


RESULTS
Metastatic node had significantly lower distribution ratio of PA to lymphoarea than that of tumor-free node. GC area was not constantly associated with lymph node metastasis. In Cox multivariate analysis, the mean ratio of PA to gross area/lymphoarea was an independent prognostic factor.


CONCLUSIONS
The proportion of PA to gross/lymph area was associated with lymph node metastasis and long-term survival and may be useful in stratification of those patients for a requirement of adjuvant treatments.
Okura
Masaya
M
The First Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. okura@dent.osaka-u.ac.jp
Kagamiuchi
Hajime
H
Tominaga
Gyo
G
Iida
Seiji
S
Fukuda
Yasuo
Y
Kogo
Mikihiko
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018858:Germinal Center / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D009333:Neck; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis