Key points:
- Histological criteria of poor prognosis cannot be used pre-operatively
in oral cavity and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OOSCC)
because a biopsy does not reflect all of the tumor heterogeneity
- Image texture parameters analyzed on pre-operative contrast-enhanced
computed tomography (CT) imaging could reflect tumor heterogeneity and
could be associated with overall survival and event-free survival in
these patients.
- Texture parameters were evaluated: mean gray-level, standard
deviation, kurtosis, skewness and entropy.
- Mean gray-level of the histogram was significantly associated with
overall survival at spatial scale filtration (SFF) 5 and with
event-free survival at coarse scale (SSF) 6.
- Pretreatment CT scan texture analysis mean gray-level may be
associated with survival in patients with OOSCC.
Key words: Squamous cell carcinoma, Oral cavity, Oropharynx,
Computer-assisted image analysis, Survival