Squamous carcinoma of the oesophagus: histological criteria and their prognostic significance.

One hundred resected cases of squamous cell carcinomas of the oesophagus were reviewed and a series of histological criteria related to the survival time. Two histological features were important in the assessment of survival. Good prognostic factors were a marked lymphocytic response to the tumour and a lack of intravenous tumour infiltration. Presence of tumour in the middle third of the oesophagus, infiltration through the muscularis propria, severe tumour necrosis, glandular or small cell tumour differentiation, lymphatic invasion and lack of peritumoural fibrosis were all factors which tended to worsen prognosis. None of these factors reached statistical significance. The degree of squamous differentiation had no effect on survival.