Lymph node metastasis in lower lip squamous cell carcinoma in relation to tumour size, histologic variables and p27Kip1 protein expression

We studied a consecutive series of 95 patients undergoing radical surgical resection of lower lip squamous cell carcinoma (LLSCC) to assess the correlation between lymph node status and several prognostic variables, such as sex and age, tumour size, histologic grading, maximal microscopic tumour thickness, perineural infiltration and p27Kip1 protein status, to see which of these might be predictive of the development of lymph node metastases. Statistical analysis demonstrated a significant association between node status and tumour size, histological grading, maximal thickness, perineural invasion and p27Kip1 protein expression; additionally to node metastasis, low p27Kip1 protein expression was significant correlated with high microscopic thickness. These results indicate that lower lip squamous cell carcinomas of >2 cm, with G3-G4 histological grading, maximal thickness of >6 mm, perineural invasion and low p27Kip1 protein expression (LI <19.7%) are at high risk for the development of lymph node metastases.