A simple novel prognostic model for early stage oral tongue cancer.

Abstract The prognostication of patient outcome is one of the greatest challenges in the management of early stage oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC). This study introduces a simple histopathological model for the prognostication of survival in patients with early OTSCC. A total of 311 cases (from Finland and Brazil) with clinically evaluated early stage OTSCC (cT1–T2cN0cM0) were included in this multicentre retrospective study. Tumour budding (B) and depth of invasion (D) were scored on haematoxylin–eosin-stained cancer slides. The cut-off point for tumour budding was set at 5 buds (low P  = 0.033) and death due to OTSCC ( P