PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - MICHAELA ANDRATSCHKE
AU  - SUNA SCHMITZ
AU  - HJALMAR HAGEDORN
AU  - ANDREAS NERLICH
TI  - Cytological and Immunocytological Monitoring of Oropharyngeal Dysplasia and Squamous Cell Carcinomas
DP  - 2015 Dec 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 6517--6520
VI  - 35
IP  - 12
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/35/12/6517.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/35/12/6517.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2015 Dec 01; 35
AB  - Background/Aim: Due to the high recurrence rates of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) and de-novo local secondary carcinomas, a close monitoring of patients is mandatory. In doubtful cases, a clearance by histological biopsy is necessary. This, however, bears potential complications. We analyzed the application of combined cytology and immunocytology in cytological brush smears for diagnosing pre-malignant and malignant lesions of the oral/oropharyngeal cavity. Materials and Methods: Brush biopsies of 30 subsequently histologically-confirmed oral/oropharyngo-/laryngeal cavity cancer cases (all then in a recurrence status) and normal mucosa were obtained for routine cytology and immunocytology for cytokeratin-8 (CK-8). Additionally 20 samples with inflammatory lesions were investigated. Results: Our results showed a high rate for positive prediction of oral/oropharyngo-/laryngeal dysplasia/cancer cases. Accordingly, 82% of all subsequently confirmed cases were detected by cytology alone (sensitivity). The specificity, however, of cytology was distinctly lower since several doubtful cases contained only inflammatory lesions (specificity 85%). The addition of CK-8-immunocytology did not increase the sensitivity, since the rate of detected cases by immunocytology was comparable to routine cytology (79%); however, the addition of immunocytology significantly increased the specificity (up to 90%). Conclusion: Routine cytology is a simple, non-invasive and cost-effective method for routine control and screening of dysplastic oral/oropharyngo-/laryngeal lesions. In doubtful cases, the addition of CK-8-immunocytology is very helpful for the distinction of reactive from neoplastic cases.