PROGNOSTIC IMPORTANCE OF TUMOR BUDDINGS IN LARYNX SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMAS

Purpose: Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma poses a management challenge due to the lack of reliable prognostic markers. Although tumor budding (TB) has been shown to predict poor prognosis in some malignancies, its prognostic significance in laryngeal cancer remains uncertain in the literature. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of TB on prognosis and its correlation with other established prognostic factors in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Patients and Methods: In the department of otolaryngology the files of 60 patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma who underwent surgery, postoperative chemoradiotherapy between 2008 and 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. The patient’s history, family history, age, TNM (tumor, node, metastases) classification, radiological imaging, type of surgery performed, and the results of the pathological specimen were evaluated. PanCK immunohistochemical staining was performed on old paraffin block sections containing tumoral tissue, previously stained with Hematoxylin & Eosin. The TB scores were evaluated by the pathology department, and the association between all obtained parameters and clinicopathological variables was analyzed.

Results: Our findings showed a significant association between tumor budding and perineural infiltration, a known prognostic factor for laryngeal carcinoma (P=0.006). TB was found to be an independent risk factor for perineural infiltration and pathological lymph node involvement (p=0.003). Pathological lymph node involvement was also found to be an independent risk factor for lymphovascular invasion (p=0.028).

Conclusions: Our study provides evidence for a significant association between tumor budding and perineural infiltration, which are established prognostic factors in laryngeal carcinoma. This suggests that tumor budding may be an important factor in determining tumor prognosis.