In the previous report, Anneroth's classification for squamous cell carcinoma of the oral region was useful for prognosis. The purpose of this study was to examine the expression of Ki-67 and its correlation with Anneroth's classification in human tongue carcinoma.
The present study included 40 patients with proven squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. Ki-67 staining was carried out using the strepto-avidin-biotin complex method and the counts were recorded per 1000 tumour cells. The mean Ki-67 index was 18.2 %. The minimum staining was 4.2 %, and maximum 38.9%. The Ki-67 index failed to correlate with any clinical factor. There was significant correlation between the Ki-67 indices of the Anneroth's histological malignancy grade which were divided into three degrees by total points of 6 parameters. In the degree of keratinization, pattern of invasion and stage of invasion, there was significant correlation between the Ki-67 indices of each histologic grading of malignancy. On the other hand, in nuclear polymorphism, the number of mitoses and lymphoplasmocytic infiltration, there was no correlation between the Ki-67 indices of each histologic grading of malignancy.