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Morphologic Features of Conventional Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oropharynx: ‘Keratinizing’ and ‘Nonkeratinizing’ Histologic Types as the Basis for a Consistent Classification System

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Abstract

Morphologic assessment is one of the most basic tools that pathologists use to classify tumors. Human papillomavirus (HPV)-related squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx has unique morphologic features that can be readily recognized under the microscope. Yet, these features are not widely recognized or uniformly reported. In our practice, we group oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas into ‘nonkeratinizing’, ‘nonkeratinizing with maturation’, and ‘keratinizing’ histologic types. The ‘nonkeratinizing’ type has a very strong association with HPV, while the ‘keratinizing’ type has a weaker association with the virus. ‘Nonkeratinizing with maturation’ is intermediate but much more closely related to the ‘nonkeratinizing’ type. This classification system parallels that of sinonasal and nasopharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas where nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinomas are widely recognized histologic variants. This review will discuss this classification system and its utility in routine clinical practice.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Walter Clermont for his assistance in preparation of the figures and James S. Lewis Jr. MD for critical review of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The author has no conflicts of interest or funding to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave., Campus Box 8118, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Rebecca D. Chernock

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  1. Rebecca D. Chernock
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Correspondence to Rebecca D. Chernock.

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Chernock, R.D. Morphologic Features of Conventional Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oropharynx: ‘Keratinizing’ and ‘Nonkeratinizing’ Histologic Types as the Basis for a Consistent Classification System. Head and Neck Pathol 6 (Suppl 1), 41–47 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12105-012-0373-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12105-012-0373-4

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