Clinicopathological, morphological and ki-67 proliferative index in oral squamous cell carcinoma in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Introduction: Oral cancers are neoplasms which are malignant and affect the structures or tissues of the mouth. These malignant neoplasms can begin as lesion which is primary or can be from a distant site which can be metastatic. It can also be an extension of some adjacent tumoural area.[1]In developing countries, oral cancer is one of the most important cause of morbidity and mortality. Oral cancer is sixth most common cancer worldwide, ranking eighth in developed countries and third in the developing world.[2] A higher incidence is reported in Southeast Asia. Of all the cancers in the Indian subcontinent, this carcinoma accounts for almost 40%.[3] Aims: To study clinicopathological, morphological and ki-67 proliferative index in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and Methods: This study is carried out in Department of Pathology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical college and Hospital, Sitapura, Jaipur, Rajasthan from 1 June 2015 to 31st May 2017. Institutional ethical committee approval was obtained prior to study.Informed consent was obtained from the patients before enrolment into the study. Statistical methods: sensitivity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and specificity was calculated. The study was a Hospital based observational study. Results: A total of 50 histologically diagnosed cases of “oscc”, with clinicopathological parameters and Immunohistochemical marker comprising of Ki-67 was studied. Out of non-invading 12 cases, 9(18%) had “Ki-67 Labeling Index” as high and 3 cases (6%) showed low labeling index.Out of 34(68%) high grade cases, in 29 cases (58%), Ki-67 expression was high and 5 cases (10%) had low expression. Also, out of remaining 16(32%) low grade cases, 7 cases (14%) showed high expression of Ki-67 and 9 cases (18%) showed low expression and show statistically significant p value. Conclusion: Oral squamous cell carcinoma is significantly associated with elderly age group and with male sex.Ki-67 expression was statistically significant when compared with histological differentiation. This indicates that Ki-67 staining may be of use in individual tumor diagnosis and prognosis. In the histopathological assessment of the severity of oral squamous cell carcinoma, Ki-67 marker proves to be a clinically useful supplement. Hence we propose that Ki-67 is a useful marker of proliferation. It can be used for the diagnosis of oral epithelial dyspalasias which have tendency to undergo malignant transformation