ABSTRACT
The high percentage of aneuploidy (48%) in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity correlates with the size of the tumor, low histological grade, and the presence of lymph node metastases. Likewise, polyploidy is higher in poorly differentiated tumors and in metastases. In nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC), the highest survival following radiation therapy was observed in patients with anaplastic carcinoma (75%), followed by lymphoepithelioma (60%), and the worst survival was in patients with SCC (30%). Similar to NPC, the majority (57.1%) of SCCs of the larynx are aneuploid or tetraploid. Multiple unrelated structural clonal chromosome aberrations have been a consistent finding in the predominant type of cancer (SCC) of the head and neck region. Aneuploidy is more frequently encountered in advanced clinical stages, and it seems deoxyribonucleic acid ploidy measurements may be an effective adjunct to the clinicopathological assessment in this type of tumors.
