Indian J Pathol Microbiol. 2024 Feb 19. doi: 10.4103/ijpm.ijpm_426_23. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide with 878,348 new cases. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the predominant cell type in tumor stroma and are important promoters of tumor progression.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to evaluate the pattern of desmoplastic stromal reaction and peri-tumoral inflammatory infiltrate with the histological grade and clinical data.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 60 cases of HNSCC were included in the study. The hematoxylin and eosin (H and E)-stained sections from all cases were examined by two experienced pathologists for the grade, nature of stomal reaction (SR), peri-tumoral inflammatory infiltration, Yamamoto-Kohama classification grade, worst pattern of invasion (WPOI), depth of invasion (DOI), and other histopathological parameters. Correlation analysis was conducted using the Chi-square test. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS: Immature SR was not observed in any of the well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cases. However, one (3.7%) case of moderately differentiated SCC and two (28.6%) cases of poorly differentiated SCC showed signs of immature SR. In the case of the higher grades of the YK classification, specifically grades 4C and 4D, a more profound depth of tumor cell invasion, equal to or exceeding 10 mm, was evident in six (66.67%) and two (28.57%) cases, respectively. Additionally, among the seven (11.7%) cases classified as poorly differentiated carcinoma, three (42.85%) displayed a WPOI score of 5.
CONCLUSION: SR and the tumor invasive pattern in HNSCC are related to prognosis and may indicate tumor aggressiveness.
PMID:38427768 | DOI:10.4103/ijpm.ijpm_426_23
