Features and prognostic utility of biopsy in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Traditional approaches in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) management utilize biopsy tissue for diagnostic purposes only. Adverse prognostic features, such as the tumor depth, are usually determined from final resection specimens, but are seldom studied in biopsy tissue.

Methods: A preliminary study of 139 consecutive biopsies compared biopsy size with T classification, tumor site, and operator grade, and biopsy tumor depth with the true tumor depth.