Goals: Our aim was to analyze the clinical, pathological, and outcome characteristics of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) from a population of the north of Portugal. oral pain (n=27; 22.3%). Sixty (60.6%) patients were tobacco consumers and 55 (57.3%) alcohol consumers. The cumulative 3-years OS rate was 58.6% and DFS was 55.4%. In multivariable analysis for OS, we found an adverse independent prognostic value for advanced tumour size (p 0.001) and for the presence of perineural permeation (p=0.012). For DFS, advanced stage tumours presented adverse independent prognostic value (p 0.001). Conclusions: OSCC occurred most frequently in males, in older patients, Dapagliflozin novel inhibtior and in patients with tobacco and/or alcohol habits. TNM and tumour stage additionally to the perineural permeation were the most important prognostic factors for the survival of these patients, contributing to identify high-risk subgroups and to guide therapy. Key words:Squamous cell carcinoma, mouth neoplasms, oral cancer, oral pathology, prognosis. Introduction Oral cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. Oral and pharyngeal grouped together are the sixth most common cancers in the Dapagliflozin novel inhibtior world (1). An estimated 263,900 new cases and 128,000 deaths from lip and oral cavity cancer occurred in the year of 2008 worldwide (2). In Portugal, a total of 1200 cases of lip, oropharynx and dental malignancies had been reported in 2007, 949 (78.61%) in men and 251 (21.4%) in females. Moreover, in the last decade there has been an increasing trend for oral cancer in Portuguese population in both sexes and especially in the female group (3). Almost 90% of oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas (3). Smoking, alcohol use, and HPV infections are the major risk factors, with an attributable risk of oral cancer due to both tobacco and alcohol of 80% (4). Despite recent advances in the detection and treatment of cancer, visual accessibility of the oral mucosa and the scientific knowledge on cancer risk factors, oral cancer carried a low survival rate (near 50%) in the last few decades (1). Treatment consists mainly in surgery, radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy (5). However these treatment modalities are often associated with collateral effects that diminish considerably the quality of life of the patients (6). Therefore is important to identify and stratify patients with greater precision to the most appropriate choice of a treatment plan, avoiding excessive treatment in patients with low risk of recurrence and excessively conservative treatments in patients in whom the risk of recurrence is high. The purpose of this study is to examine the clinical and pathological characteristics of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) and analyze their influence in the outcome of these patients. Material and Methods -Patients population This was a retrospective study of 128 consecutive patients diagnosed and treated FHF4 for primary OSCC at the em Centro Hospitalar do Porto C Hospital de Santo Antnio, Porto, Portugal /em , between 2000 and 2010. The study was approved and performed according to the institutional review board of the hospital. We include all consecutive primary OSCC located in the lip mucosa or oral cavity (C00.3-C00.5, C01-06). Patients were excluded when lacking relevant clinical and follow-up information or without histological confirmation of their diagnosis. From patients records we obtained patients age, gender, tumour location, first clinical manifestation of the disease, clinical tumour presentation, history of potentially malignant disorders, tobacco and alcohol habits, tumour stage, primary treatment, tumour grade, Dapagliflozin novel inhibtior surgical margin status, vascular, lymphatic and perineural invasion, and follow-up information. The tobacco and alcohol habits were categorized into the groups: consumers, non consumers and ex-consumers. Individuals who smoked smoking (or equivalents) in the price of 20 or even more per day had been considered weighty smokers (7). Those that drank alcoholic beverages at 30.0 g/day time or even more (for men) or 15.0 g/day time or even more (for females) were regarded as large drinkers. Tumour stage was reclassified based on the 7th release from the classification Dapagliflozin novel inhibtior of malignant tumours of American Joint Committee on Tumor (8). Treatment plans had been authorized and grouped for statistical evaluation into the classes: 1 C medical procedures only; 2 C medical procedures and adjunctive radiotherapy (external-beam radiotherapy, 55-66Gy); 3 C chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil and cisplatin) accompanied by medical procedures; 4 – chemotherapy accompanied by medical procedures and adjunctive radiotherapy; 5 C additional remedies including radiotherapy only, chemotherapy only or chemoradiotherapy; and 6 C support treatment. Hematoxylin-eosin-stained slides had been designed for all tumours to verify the initial analysis. Tumour quality was reclassified into well differentiated (G1), reasonably differentiated (G2), and badly differentiated (G3) OSCC. Inspection for feasible existence of vascular (venous),.