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Pathological Factors Affecting Outcomes in Oral Cancer

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Improving Outcomes in Oral Cancer

Abstract

Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity represents an intriguing diagnosis with variable outcomes over the past 50 years of recorded observation. While our understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment of this disease has increased during this time, the prognosis of these cancers has demonstrated only slight improvement. To this end, many pathologic factors impacting the prognosis of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma are recognized, including grade, depth of invasion, perineural invasion, positive margins, the histologic status of the cervical lymph nodes, and the presence of human papillomavirus. It is the purpose of this chapter to discuss these prognostic indices of oral squamous cell carcinoma while reporting on the international literature that assesses the role of adjuvant therapy when adverse features are identified that impact the patient’s prognosis.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Eric R. Carlson & J. Michael McCoy

  2. Oral/Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery Fellowship Program, University of Tennessee Cancer Institute, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Eric R. Carlson

  3. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Eric R. Carlson

  4. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Residency Program, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville, TN, USA

    J. Michael McCoy

  5. Department of Pathology, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville, TN, USA

    J. Michael McCoy

  6. Department of Radiology, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville, TN, USA

    J. Michael McCoy

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  1. Eric R. Carlson
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  2. J. Michael McCoy
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Correspondence to Eric R. Carlson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, North Memorial Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Deepak Kademani

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Carlson, E.R., McCoy, J.M. (2020). Pathological Factors Affecting Outcomes in Oral Cancer. In: Kademani, D. (eds) Improving Outcomes in Oral Cancer. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30094-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30094-4_6

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