Usefulness of immunohistochemical diagnosis for squamous cell carcinoma of the dorsum of the tongue: A case report

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the dorsum of the tongue frequently presents as an exophytic mass mimicking benign lesions. Case Presentation: We report a case of a 69-year-old woman with an exophytic lesion on the dorsum of the tongue. She underwent biopsy twice prior to surgical excision. The biopsy specimens revealed epithelial hyperplasia, and the pathological diagnosis from the surgical material was well-differentiated SCC. Immunohistochemical findings of cytokeratin 13 (CK13), CK17, Ki-67, and p53 showed the pre-neoplastic nature of the hyperplastic epithelia in the biopsy specimens. Conclusion: Immunohistochemical staining is useful for the diagnosis of exophytic lesions of the dorsum of the tongue.