Clinico-pathological correlation of micronuclei in oral squamous cell carcinoma by exfoliative cytology

Oral squamous cell carcinoma accounts for 90% to 95% of all oral malignancies. Though its diagnosis seldom presents difficulty, it is the cancer staging and histopathological grading that are important to prognostication; and micronuclei are good prognostic indicators. Micronucleus frequencies in oral exfoliated cells stained with papanicolaou stain were counted and correlated with the histopathological grades and clinical stages of squamous cell carcinoma patients. They were also compared with healthy control subjects. Micronuclei (MN) frequencies were found higher in squamous cell carcinoma patients than in control subjects. MN frequencies were also found to be raised with increasing histological grades of squamous cell carcinoma.