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Tumor budding correlates with occult cervical lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis in clinical early‐stage tongue squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Xie Nan,
Wang Cheng,
Liu Xiqiang,
Li Ruyao,
Hou Jinsong,
Chen Xiaohua,
Huang Hongzhang
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/jop.12242
Subject(s) - tumor budding , tongue , medicine , stage (stratigraphy) , oncology , proportional hazards model , pathology , metastasis , lymph node , occult , cancer , tongue neoplasm , carcinoma , t stage , lymph node metastasis , biology , paleontology , alternative medicine
Background Tumor budding has been suggested to be a prognostic factor in various human cancers. However, the prognostic value of tumor budding for early‐stage ( cT 1/2N0) tongue squamous cell carcinoma remains inconclusive. This study analyzed the correlation of tumor budding with the clinicopathologic features, and its prognostic significance for cT 1/2N0 stage tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Methods One hundred and ninety‐five patients with T1/2 stage tongue squamous cell carcinoma enrolled in the retrospective study. Tumor invasive depth, the intensity of tumor budding, and other clinicopathological features were reviewed. Overall survivals were evaluated by the Kaplan–Meier method. For multivariable analysis, Cox's proportional hazards regression models were performed. Results The frequency of tumor buds in tongue squamous cell carcinoma is about 85.6% in this study. The intensity of tumor budding showed strong correlations with occult lymph node metastasis ( P < 0.05), local relapse ( P < 0.01), worse invasive pattern ( P < 0.01), and invasive depth ( P < 0.05). The invasive depth was significantly associated with T classification ( P < 0.01) and lymph node metastasis ( P < 0.01). And both high intensity of tumor budding and deeper invasive depth correlated with reduced overall survival. Cox's regression models proved tumor budding to be an independent prognostic factor in clinical early‐stage tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Tumor local relapses were also a predictor of tongue squamous cell carcinoma progression. Conclusions Tumor budding is a frequent event in tongue squamous cell carcinoma. It independently predicted prognosis of patients with T1/2 stage tongue squamous cell carcinoma and may be used for routing pathological diagnosis and the decision of elective lymph node dissection.