A CLINICO-PATHOLOGICAL STUDY OF ORAL CANCERS

Background: In many Asian cultures where chewing betel, paan and areca is common, oral cancer represents up to 40% of all cancers. It may arise as a primary lesion originating in any of the oral tissues, by metastasis from a distant site of origin, or by extension from a neighboring anatomical structure. A tissue biopsy and microscopic examination of the lesion confirms the diagnosis and malignancy of oral cancer. Objectives: To see the clinical and histopathological pattern of oral cancer. Material and Methods: This was a retrospective case series studies carried out at Histopathology Department of PNS Shifa Hospital, Karachi. Detailed clinical histories of the patients were recorded and their histopathology was performed using haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain. Clinical data collected included the age, sex of patient and intra-oral site of cancer. Histopathological data included type of cancers and their degree of differentiation. The inference was drawn from this record. The data was analysed on SPSS version 17. Results: A total of 268 oral mucosal biopsy reports were studied which constituted 6.6% of all malignant tumours reported during this period. Among the 268 cases studied, 256 (95.5%) cases were of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 4 (1.5%) were of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and 2 (0.75%) each were of adenoid cystic carcinoma, mucoepidermoid carcinoma, adenocarcinoma and undifferentiated carcinoma. Amongst the SCC group, 116 (43.28%) cases were well differentiated, 128 (47.76%) cases were moderately differentiated and 16 (5.97%) cases were poorly differentiated. Tongue was the commonest site involved in 116(44%) cases followed by buccal mucosa 88 (33.3%) cases.