BackgroundWe previously reported the utility of preoperative nuclear morphometry for evaluating risk for cervical lymph node metastases in tongue squamous cell carcinoma. The risk for lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma, however, is known to differ depending on the anatomical site of the primary tumor, such as the tongue, gingiva, mouth floor, and buccal mucosa. In this study, we evaluated the applicability of this morphometric technique to evaluating the risk for cervical lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma.MethodsA digital image system was used to measure the mean nuclear area, mean nuclear perimeter, nuclear circular rate, ratio of nuclear length to width (aspect ratio), and nuclear area coefficient of variation (NACV). Relationships between these parameters and nodal status were evaluated by t-test and logistic regression analysis.ResultsEighty-eight cases of squamous cell carcinoma (52 of the tongue, 25 of the gingiva, 4 of the buccal mucosa, and 7 of the mouth floor) were included: 46 with positive node classification and 42 with negative node classification. Nuclear area and perimeter were significantly larger in node-positive cases than in node-negative cases; however, there were no significant differences in circular rate, aspect ratio, or NACV. We derived two risk models based on the results of multivariate analysis: Model 1, which identified age and mean nuclear area and Model 2, which identified age and mean nuclear perimeter. It should be noted that primary tumor site was not associated the pN-positive status. There were no significant differences in pathological nodal status by aspect ratio, NACV, or primary tumor site.ConclusionOur method of preoperative nuclear morphometry may contribute valuable information to evaluations of the risk for lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

BackgroundOral epithelial dysplasia (OED) and carcinoma in situ (CIS) are defined by dysplastic cells in the epithelium. Over a third of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients present with associated OED. However, accurate histopathological diagnosis of such lesions is difficult. Nucleus accumbens-associated protein 1 (NAC1) is a member of the Pox virus and Zinc finger/Bric-a-brac Tramtrack Broad complex family of proteins, and is overexpressed in OSCC. This study aimed to determine whether NAC1 has the potential to be used as a marker to distinguish OED and OSCC.Methods and FindingsThe study included 114 patients (64 men, 50 women). There were 67, 10, and 37 patients with OED, CIS, and OSCC, respectively. NAC1 labeling indices (LIs) and immunoreactivity intensities (IRI) were evaluated. The patients’ pathological classification was significantly associated with age, sex, NAC1 LIs, and NAC1 IRI (p = 0.025, p = 0.022, p < 0.001, and p < 0.001, respectively). As a result of multivariate analysis, a predictive model was made; this identified the NAC1 LIs (OR [95% CI] 1.18 [1.11–1.28], p < 0.001) and NAC1 IRI (0.78 [0.68–0.86], p < 0.001) as predictive factors for CIS/OSCC. The NAC1 LIs/IRI cut-off values which discriminated between OED and CIS/OSCC were 50%/124 pixels. For NAC1 LIs with > 50% positivity the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were 0.766, 0.910, 0.857, and 0.847, respectively. For NAC1 IRI with ≤ 124 positive pixels, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 0.787, 0.866, 0.804, and 0.853, respectively. Though there are several potential limitations to this study and the results were obtained from a retrospective analysis of a single site cohort, the data suggest that the NAC1 LIs/IRI is a strong predictor of CIS/OSCC.ConclusionsNAC1 has potential as a marker for distinguishing OED from CIS/OSCC.

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