Squamous cell carcinoma of the gingiva. Histological classification and grading of malignancy.

A histological classification and grading of malignancy has been performed on the initial biopsies from 124 patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the gingiva treated during the period 1958-69 at the Karolinska hospital. Six different morphological parameters were evaluated with respect to the tumour cell population and the tumour-host relationship estimated in terms of a four-point scale. This permitted grading with total points ranging from 6-24. A strong correlation was found between the degree of histological malignancy and the fatal outcome of the disease. Thus a tumour with a point value of 16 almost always led to the death of the patient while the best results were achieved with surgery alone in the group of small cancers (T1 + T2) with low total malignancy points.