Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Mouth: Diagnostic Agreement in Tests Performed in the Laboratory of Pathological Anatomy at the Federal University of Alfenas

Abstract

Introduction: Oral cancer is among the ten most frequent neoplasms in the Brazilian population. It is diagnosed in most of the cases in advanced stage, making the treatment harder and reducing the rate of the patient’s survival. Objective: Assess the concordance between clinical diagnosis, histopathological biopsies and surgical pieces of the squamous cells carcinoma of the mouth. Method: A retrospective study was carried out from January 2000 to December 2010, based on histophatological reports issued by the Pathological Anatomy Lab from the Federal University of Alfenas, Minas Gerais, Brazil and the hospital records of treated patients. In order to determine the concordance, the clinical diagnoses were compared with the histopathological diagnosis of biopsy and those were compared with the exam from the surgical pieces removed in the treatment. Results: The higher incidence of SCC occurred in white patients, male, aged between 50 and 60, single, farmers or housekeepers, who had attended primary school only, from a low socio-economic level, smokers and/or alcoholics. The most common anatomic sites of the lesions were the floor of the mouth and tongue. The vestibule of the mouth and the palate were the less common sites. The concordance between the clinical and histopathological diagnosis was 71.2% and between the histopathological and the surgical pieces exam was 87.1%. Conclusion: An expressive concordance between the diagnoses was verified. However, new surveys are necessary that compare the exam results of the surgical pieces during the treatment with their clinical characteristics.