Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) in early oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) would aid in predicting occult lymph node metastasis.
Patients and methods: Seventy-one patients undergoing elective neck dissection for T1 and T2 OSCC were evaluated for clinical features, prognosis, and TATE. The degree of TATE in OSCC was statistically analyzed in relation to the clinicopathological features, tumor invasion, occult lymph node metastasis, and survival using χ(2) test and Kaplan-Meier method.
Results: Statistical analysis revealed that intense TATE was a significant feature (p = 0.004) to predict occult lymph node metastasis in patients with early OSCC. All regional recurrences of the OSCC occurred in patients showing intense TATE.
Conclusions: These results suggest that intense TATE can be clinically used as a predictive factor for occult lymph node metastasis.
Clinical relevance: The presence of intense TATE is an adjunctive histopathological marker to reinforce the indication of elective neck dissection of the patients with early OSCC.