The Evaluation of Tumor Budding in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Arising in the Background of Oral Submucous Fibrosis

Background and objective Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a common and potentially malignant disorder with a high risk of malignant transformation to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Tumor budding is a scattered pattern of invasion and is related to the aggressive behavior of malignant tumors, increased depth of invasion, higher clinical staging, size, and grade of the tumor. The present study aimed to evaluate tumor budding in OSCC arising in the background of OSMF. Materials and methods A total of 120 patients with OSCC (30 each of OSCC arising in the background of OSMF, well-differentiated, moderately differentiated, and poorly differentiated OSCC) were included in the study. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained sections were evaluated for the presence of tumor buds at the invasive front of the tumor. Kappa statistics and chi-square tests were employed to statistically compare the results by using IBM SPSS Statistics 23 software (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). A p-value of less than or equal to 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The mean age of the occurrence of OSCC arising in the background of OSMF was 45.3 ±7.62 years. A progressive increase in the tumor buds was noted in OSCC arising in the background of OSMF, well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (WDSCC), moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (WDSCC), and poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (PDSCC). The chi-square test showed no significant difference between OSCC in the setting of OSMF and WDSCC (p=0.604) groups; however, a significant difference was noted with MDSCC (p=0.001) and PDSCC (p=0.000) groups. Conclusions OSCC arising in the background of OSMF shows lower tumor budding at the invasive front of the tumor. This histopathological parameter can be easily identified in the H&E sections and is fairly reproducible. Hence, reporting the presence of tumor budding will help in predicting the prognosis of these patients.