Pigmented lesions represent an uncommon diagnosis in oral pathology routines. The most frequent entities are amalgam tattoo, melanotic macule, and nevus. Patients are usually middle-aged women presenting a small, long-lasting, macular lesion on the cheek mucosa.

hMLH1 immunoexpression was inversely related to the OL degree of dysplasia. The total epithelial hMLH1 index seems to be of more clinical relevance than the evaluation stratified by layers. Our findings also suggest a role of such alterations in this pathway of DNA repair as an early event in oral carcinogenesis.

Objectives To assess the prognosis for early‐stage oral squamous cell carcinoma according to tumor depth of invasion (DOI). Methods This study was logged in the PROSPERO database under protocol # CRD42017059976. The search was conducted in six electronic databases up to May 2019. Fixed‐effects meta‐analysis was performed for the calculation of the odds ratio (OR) and respective 95% CI. Primary outcomes were lymph node metastasis, recurrence, and survival. Heterogeneity was calculated by the I2 test. The certainty of evidence was assessed by Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Results Twenty‐seven studies were included (19 in the meta‐analysis) with 2,404 patients with a mean of 60 years of age. High tumor DOI is associated with a greater chance of presenting lymph node metastasis, regardless of the cutoff point for DOI (13 meta‐analysis; OR 1.69–53.08), recurrence (five meta‐analysis; OR 1.22–3.83), and lower chance of survival (1 meta‐analysis; OR 0.49). The certainty of evidence varied from very low to low. Conclusions Tumor DOI is a good prognosticator for early‐stage OSCC. The findings of the current meta‐analysis highlight the clinical relevance of DOI and corroborate its incorporation for staging OSCC.

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Desmoplastic fibroblastoma is a rare, benign, soft tissue tumor affecting mainly the subcutaneous and muscle tissue. Only five cases identified in the oral cavity have been reported in prior literature. This article presents a case report of a 56-year-old man, with no previous history of trauma, who presented a slow-growing mass in the buccal mucosa. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry staining studies were performed, and a diagnosis of the desmoplastic fibroblastoma was made. The patient has been disease-free for one year.

Alterations in the immunoexpression pattern of hMLH1 and p53 seemed to be early events in oral carcinogenesis. During acquisition of a more dysplastic phenotype, keratinocytes may show diminished capacity of DNA repair and tumor suppression, as well as higher cellular proliferation, and these pathways can be somehow interconnected.

BackgroundRecent studies have pointed towards a role of tumour-infiltrating neutrophils in cancer biology. Investigations on oral squamous cell carcinoma have indicated a possible association with clinical characteristics. This study aimed to evaluate neutrophil infiltration and the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio in the central areas and invasive front of oral squamous cell carcinomas at different T stages, and their association with clinicopathological features and patient outcome.MethodsClinical information was retrieved from the charts of patients who had undergone surgical treatment. Samples of the excised tumours were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis for CD66b and CD3. Semi-quantitative analysis was performed in the intratumoural region and in the invasive front. Appropriate statistical tests were used for evaluating the data, including Kaplan–Meier survival analysis and the log-rank test. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.ResultsT3–T4 tumours presented higher CD66b infiltration in the intratumoural region and higher CD66b/CD3 ratios in the invasive front than T1–T2 lesions (p < 0.05). There was a strong inverse correlation between CD66b and CD3 in the invasive front of T3–T4 tumours (r = −0.712, p < 0.05). Comparisons of CD66b and the CD66b/CD3 ratio according to N status, tumour location, recurrence, inflammation grade, and histological grade did not reach statistical significance. Survival analysis also did not show any significant differences.ConclusionsThe present study showed different degrees of neutrophil infiltration between T1–T2 and T3–T4 oral cancers, with higher indexes in the advanced lesions. However, there was no association with clinicopathological features or with time to recurrence.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1541-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundDespite the professional and academic relevance of the Brazilian oral pathology diagnostic laboratories, no information about their usage profile is available in the English literature. The objective of the present study is to report data about the histopathological and immunohistochemical exams performed in a Brazilian regional reference laboratory of oral pathology, as well as its main users.MethodsInformation about all histopathological exams performed between 2002 and 2012 was retrieved from the files of the Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Service of the School of Dentistry of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Data collected included: 1) requestor of exam; 2) diagnosis classification; and 3) immunohistochemical tests. Descriptive statistical analyses were done.Results13,522 histopathological exams were performed, mean 1,229/year. The Public Health System of the city of Belo Horizonte was the main requestor of exams (77.13%), followed by private professionals (19.26%), and other cities (2.03%). Most lesions were considered benign (12,599/ 93.17%), with 854 malignant lesions (6.32%). 469 immunohistochemical tests were performed; 324 (69.08%) were from benign diagnosis, and 145 (30.92%) from malignant diagnosis. The most used antibodies were against S100, vimentin, smooth muscle actin, actin muscle specific HHF-35, and pan-cytokeratin AE1/AE3.ConclusionsPublic Health System is the major user of the diagnostic service on oral pathology in our institution. Most diagnoses were of benign lesions, although many malignant lesions were detected. Immunohistochemistry was particularly important in solving challenging cases.