Cytological grading: An alternative to histological grading in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background:Micronuclei (MN) in oral exfoliative cells have been shown to indicate a disparaging change in genetic information of the cell. Recent studies showed correlation between the frequency of MN and severity of this damage. Grading of lesions can be used to determine the austerity of this damage. Aims: The aim of this study is to compare the MN frequency in oral exfoliated cells of normal and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) individuals and to cytologically grade the frequency of MN in cytological smears and to correlate it with histological grading. The objective is to ascertain whether MN frequency in oral exfoliated cells can be a parameter for grading of OSCC.Settings and Design:The study group comprises of 40 subjects (20 controls and 20 OSCC patients) in the age group of 45-85 years.Materials and Methods:The cytosmear was obtained from each group and stained with Papanicolaou (PAP) stain. Twenty cells from each slide were counted for MN and cytological grade of OSCC was assigned based on the average frequency of MN. Cytological grade was correlated with histological grading and the data were recorded. Student's t-test and Spearman's correlation were used for the analysis of the data.Results:Average frequency of MN was 2.5 times higher in OSCC patients when compared to that in controls and the difference was found to be highly significant. Sixty percent correlation was found between cytological grade and histological grade of OSCC and the difference between them was not significant.Conclusions:Cytological grading can be used in grading OSCC, and MN insinuates genotoxic damage occurring in the epithelial cells.

Association between DNA ploidy and micronucleus frequency in chronic smokers and impact of smoking cessation

“…7 DNA aneuploidy is frequently found in carcinomas, and it also appears to be associated with lesions with malignant transformation potential. 6 This study was conducted with the opportunity to evaluate the association between the frequency of MN and the presence or absence of aneuploid DNA in smokers and former smokers compared to nonsmokers.…”

“…5 Also, it has been demonstrated in carcinogenesis that accumulated genetic and epigenetic alterations can lead to fragility of the chromosomes, either in the form of numerical or structural rearrangement, and can be demonstrated as a DNA of abnormal or aneuploid content. 6,7 The DNA of normal cells is diploid, since aneuploidy means a larger or smaller number of chromosomes generated by their instability. Aneuploidy can occur for a variety of reasons, including defects in the cell cycle and in response to DNA damage.…”

“…5 Also, it has been demonstrated in carcinogenesis that accumulated genetic and epigenetic alterations can lead to fragility of the chromosomes, either in the form of numerical or structural rearrangement, and can be demonstrated as a DNA of abnormal or aneuploid content. 6,7…”

Nuclear pleomorphism-based cytopathological grading in human oral neoplasm

“…In this regard, credit goes to Palve and Tupkari (2008) who have found that the percentage of micronuclei was uniformly elevated in all histologic grades of OSCC, suggesting a strong cytogenetic damage of the oral epithelium [16]. Recently, Namala et al (2016) have studied on micronuclei frequency and reported that there was 60% correlation between the cytological grade and histological grade and the difference between them was found to be insignificant. They have also concluded that cytological grading can be used as an alternative to histological grading in grading of OSCC [17].…”

“…Recently, Namala et al (2016) have studied on micronuclei frequency and reported that there was 60% correlation between the cytological grade and histological grade and the difference between them was found to be insignificant. They have also concluded that cytological grading can be used as an alternative to histological grading in grading of OSCC [17]. Therefore, a humble attempt was undertaken to record a broad spectrum of the nuclear pleomorphism in various stages of oral carcinogenesis, among addicted and non-addicted groups and to analyse their utility in cytopathological grading for early detection of human oral cancer.…”