Conventional versus Papanicolaou-stained cytobrush biopsy in the diagnosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

AIMS Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) is the most frequent malignancy of the oral cavity which is known to have a high mortality rate. Early diagnosis of this cancer has a major role in the prevention of its progression and can help increase patient survival. Conventional biopsy is considered the gold standard for diagnosis of oral SCC. However oral brush biopsy is less invasive, quicker and easier than surgical method. The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity of oral brush biopsy in patients with oral SCC. METHODS Thirty-five oral SCC subjects underwent. Cyrtobrush sampling followed by conventional biopsy and the latter was used as gold standard to determine the sensitivity of the brush biopsy technique. Papanicolaou and hematoxylin/eosin staining were used for cytopathologic and histopathologic assessments, respectively. RESULTS Only one patient was excluded due to inadequate sample material. A total of six of cytobrush specimens had the same diagnosis as their conventional biopsies (20.6% true positive), while 27 samples (79.4%) showed false negativity. CONCLUSIONS According to the results obtained in the present study, sampling with cytobrush followed by Papanicolaou staining may not be a good alternative for conventional biopsy in oral SCC cases.