Frequency of pain and correlation with clinical and histologic parameters in T1 squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue: a retrospective pilot study.
OBJECTIVE
To conduct a pilot retrospective study to investigate the frequency of pain among patients with early-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) of the tongue and to correlate the pain with clinical and histopathologic parameters.


METHODS
Twenty-four archival cases of T1 OSCC of the tongue were reviewed. No power analysis was conducted due to the pilot nature of the study. Tumors were classified into two groups according to the presence or not of pain (P+ and P- groups). Clinical and histopathologic parameters, such as grade of differentiation, depth of invasion, and presence of vascular, muscular, and perineural invasion were recorded. Statistical analyses included parametric (Student t) and nonparametric (chi-square) tests.


RESULTS
Pain was reported by 13 of the 24 patients. In the P+ group, 11 of the 13 had moderately differentiated and 2 well-differentiated tumors; in contrast, P- patients had moderately differentiated tumors in 5 of the cases and well-differentiated tumors in 6 cases (P = .082). Vascular invasion was observed in 5 of the 13 P+ and 5 of the 11 P- patients, muscular invasion in 5 P+ and 2 P- patients, and perineural invasion in 4 P+ and 1 P- patients, respectively. The mean depth of invasion was 1.51 mm for P+ patients and 1.25 mm for P- patients. Only lymphoplasmocytic infiltration differed significantly, with P+ tumors exhibiting more intense inflammation (P = .041).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the limited number of cases, the results of this study suggest that painful OSCCs of the tongue may be associated with more intense inflammation.
Nikolaos G
NG
Nikitakis
Eleni
E
Sarlani
Antonia
A
Kolokythas
Mark A
MA
Scheper
Georgios
G
Kamperos
Richard A
RA
Ord
Alexandra
A
Sklavounou-Andrikopoulou
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D014059:Tongue / Q000098:blood supply / Q000294:innervation; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
D009418:S100 Proteins