Association between COVID 19 exposure and expression of malignant pathological features in oral squamous cell carcinoma: A retrospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the relationship between the clinical and pathological characters of OSCC and COVID 19 exposure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study in patients with OSCC with or without COVID 19 was performed. A total of 200 OSCC patients treated with surgery from 2019 to 2023 were included. Clinical and pathological features were analysed between two groups. Characters with statistical difference were further analysed by performing univariate analysis and logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The expression of Ki67 (n = 57, 71.3 %, P < 0.001) and CyclinD1 (n = 64, 80 %, P < 0.001) in OSCC with the exposure history of COVID 19 is higher than that in patients never exposed to COVID 19. COVID 19 exposure history is an independent influencing factor for higher expression of Ki67 (OR = 4.04, 95 % CI 1.87-8.72, P < 0.001) and CyclinD1 (OR = 5.45, 95 % CI 2.56-11.60, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: COVID 19 may suggest more invasive malignant biological behavior of cancer cells in OSCC.