Mast cell density in different histological grades of oral squamous cell carcinoma: A cross-sectional study in a tertiary care center in Northeast India.

BACKGROUND: Mast cells accumulate in peritumoral tissue in cutaneous malignancies and various other malignancies and contribute to a permissive microenvironment for carcinogenesis. They promote tumor angiogenesis by inducing neovascularization. Most cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are moderately to well differentiated, whereas poorly differentiated cases are rare. The objective of the study is to evaluate tumor mast cell density across different histological grades of OSCC in patients of a tertiary care center of Northeast India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 139 patients diagnosed histopathologically, and mast cell density was analyzed by toluidine blue stain; density was counted in hotspots (nhpf). Poorly differentiated OSCC ( n = 2) was analyzed descriptively. Well-differentiated versus moderately differentiated OSCC was compared using t -test or Mann-Whitney U test (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences v25). RESULTS: Well-differentiated OSCC: 70 (50.4%), moderately differentiated OSCC: 67 (48.2%), and poorly differentiated OSCC: 2 (1.4%). There was no statistically significant difference in mast cell density between well-differentiated versus moderately differentiated grades ( P = 0.068), although variations in mean values were noted. Density was lower in poorly differentiated OSCC cases. CONCLUSIONS: Our study results showed no statistically significant difference in mast cell density among OSCC grades. Larger poorly differentiated OSCC samples are needed for future studies.