Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Palate

Abstract

A histological survey of 383 primary tumours in the palate revealed that 219 were malignant tumours, 123 of which were squamous cell carcinomas (56%) and 75 malignant salivary gland tumours (34%). The squamous cell carcinomas were classified as either highly differentiated (83 cases) or poorly differentiated (40 cases) and the morphological basis for distinguishing the two types has been discussed. The investigation revealed that the poorly differentiated carcinomas were more commonly ulcerated and had a higher incidence of metastases and lower survival rate than the highly differentiated carcinomas. A comparison was made between different clinical features of the two predominant groups of malignant tumours of the palate–-squamous cell carcinomas and malignant salivary gland tumours. It was found that squamous cell carcinomas are more commonly localized to the soft palate, are generally larger in size and more often ulcerated than malignant salivary gland tumours. Squamous cell carcinomas have also a shorter period of symptoms before therapy, but despite this the prognosis is worse than for malignant salivary gland tumours.