Prognostic value of tumor budding and invasion patterns in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a retrospective histopathological analysis of 116 cases

Abstract Background Histopathological markers may facilitate disease prognosis and patient-specific treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate tumor budding and other histopathological markers in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. This is a retrospective descriptive analysis of the histopathology of 116 patients with primary squamous cell cancer of the larynx. We reviewed the tumor budding score, degree of differentiation, lymphovascular and perineural invasion, stromal and host lymphocyte response, and depth and pattern of invasion. The outcomes were lymph node metastasis and disease-specific survival. Results The average age of the patients was 64.95 ± 9.92 years, 94.0% were male, and 71.55% had advanced disease (T3 and T4). Most patients (84.5%) had a negative clinical nodal stage, 58.6% underwent neck dissection, 24.1% had a positive histopathological nodal stage, and 22 patients (18.1%) had regional recurrence, bringing the total of regional metastasis to 36.2% ( n = 42). Immunohistochemistry increased the observed budding activity. High budding activity >5/high-powered field was associated with advanced T stages, lymph node metastasis, and depth of invasion >5 mm. Conclusion Tumor budding and depth and pattern of invasion may be prognostic factors in laryngeal squamous cell cancer. Further research is needed to determine whether they may be evaluated in biopsy material.