Value of invasion depth and invasion pattern in evaluating recurrence and prognosis of early oral squamous cell carcinoma

Objective To investigate the value of depth of invasion (DOI) and pattern of invasion (POI) in predicting recurrence and evaluating prognosis of early oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Methods Data of 109 patients with primary OSCC were retrospectively collected. The chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables of clinical data. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the correlation between clinical data and tumor recurrence. Cox regression analysis was used to analyze the correlation between clinical data and overall survival of patients.

Results Univariate analysis showed that POI, DOI and pathological grade were correlated with recurrence and poor prognosis of early OSCC. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis indicated that DOI was an influencing factor for OSCC recurrence (OR=4.515, 95%CI, 1.283 to 15.894, P<0.05) and prognosis (HR=2.993, 95%CI, 1.225 to 7.317, P<0.05). There was a high correlation between POI and DOI of OSCC.

Conclusion DOI ≥5 mm is considered as a relevant factor for recurrence and poor prognosis of early OSCC.