DNA pattern in oral cavity carcinomas in relation to clinical stage and histological grading.

Cytofluorometric DNA analysis was performed in 88 squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity. 48% (42/88) of the tumours were DNA non-diploid. The frequency of DNA non-diploid tumours seemed to correlate with the increasing size of the tumour, and the decrease of histological grading, and certainly with the presence of lymph node metastases (p less than 0.001). DNA non-diploid tumours often had shorter duration of symptoms. The S-phase level seemed to increase the less differentiated the tumour but did not correlate either to tumour size or to duration of symptoms. Polyploid nuclei were more common in poorly differentiated tumours (9/10) as compared to well differentiated ones (17/33) (p less than 0.05) and seemed to be more common in tumours with metastases (20/26) than in those without (40/62).