Evaluation of eosinophilic infiltration in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its correlation with cervical lymph node metastasis and histological grading Dr. Alaeddini M .,1 Dr. Mousavi D .,2 Dr. Eshghyar N .,3 Dr. Etemad-Moghadam S. 1 1 Dental Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Tehran, Iran. 2 Dentist. 3 Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Tehran, Iran. (Received 29 Nov, 2009 Accepted 30 June, 2010) Abstract Background and Aim : Eosinophils are suggested to have had participated in neoplastic invasion and metastasis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate eosinophilic infiltration in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and assess its correlation with cervical lymph node metastasis and histological grading . Materials and Methods : This cross-sectional study used 20 OSCCs samples with lymph node metastasis and 20 samples without (NLM) were selected from the files of Tehran Cancer Institute. Hematoxylin-eosin stained sections were used to evaluate the presence of eosinophils in neoplastic tissues and OSCCs grading. Eosinophils were counted in 10 dense- and 10 classic-high-power-fields and graded from 0 to 4. Statistical analysis as well as Mann-Whitney-U and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results : The largest percentage of cases in OSCCs with and without LNM based on Eosinophil grading was 50% in grade 1 and 70% in grade 2, based on the dense-field count and 50% in grades 1 and 0 and 70% in grade 1, when using the classic-field counting method, respectively. Eosinophilic infiltration was not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05). A significant difference in mean Eosinophilic count was observed among the histological grades when using the dense-field method (P=0.004), but not the classic technique (P=0.029). Conclusion : Within limitations of present study it appears that the presence of Eosinophils in OSCC specimens could not be used as a clinical predictor for lymph node metastasis, however further investigation with a larger sample size is required to clarify the role of these inflammatory cells in OSCC cases. Key words : Squamous cell carcinoma - Eosinophils – Lymphatic metastasis . Corresponding Author : Dr. Etemad-Moghadam S , Dental Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Tehran, Iran . e.mail: shahrooetemad@yahoo.com | 
