Tumor vascularization, mitotic index, histopathologic grade, and DNA ploidy in the assessment of 114 head and neck squamous cell carcinomas

Background. Quantification of tumor vascularization recently has been shown to a parameter of potential clinical significance. Several basic and clinical studies have demonstrated that tumor growth correlates significantly with angiogenesis. Methods. To determine the utility of quantification of tumor vascularization and mitotic index for the pathobiologic assessment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, a prospective study of 114 consecutively recruited primary neoplasms was performed. Tumors were also studied for differentiation, keratinization, nuclear atypia, growth pattern, inflammation, desmoplasia, vascular tumor emboli, and DNA content. Results. In this cohort, tumor vascularization was correlated with mitotic index (P < 0.001), nuclear grade (P = 0.03), presence of tumor emboli in the peripheral microvessels (P = 0.05), and lymph nodal status (P = 0.03). A strong relationship between poor differentiation and high N classification (P < 0.001), differentiation and keratinization (P < 0.001) and tumor cell emboli and clinically involved lymph nodes (P = 0.01) was also observed. Emboli were more rare in laryngeal and oropharynx/oral cavity tumors than in hypopharynx/epilarynx (P = 0.02). Conclusions. This study indicates that tumor vascularization, differentiation, and tumor emboli in peripheral microvessel network are important histologic parameters in the assessment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.