Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Objectives To assess agreement between oral brush cytology and histopathology in two cohorts and determine whether cytology identifies high-grade disease. Methods We analysed paired cytology and histopathology results from 32 patients in cohort I and 262 assessable pairs in cohort II. Original diagnoses were retained as separate categories, including cytological atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) and histopathological carcinoma in situ. For the binary high-grade analysis, cytological HSIL or carcinoma was considered positive; severe dysplasia or carcinoma in situ on histopathology constituted a positive reference result. Cohorts were analysed separately. Results Exact category agreement was 20/32 (62.5%; 95% CI 43.7–78.9%; unweighted Cohen’s κ = 0.11) in cohort I and 174/262 (66.4%; 95% CI 60.3–72.1%; κ = 0.11) in cohort II. Sensitivity for high-grade disease was 1/4 (25.0%; 95% CI 0.6–80.6%) in cohort I and 0/13 (0.0%; 95% CI 0.0–24.7%) in cohort II. Conclusion At the high-grade threshold used here, oral brush cytology missed most lesions with severe dysplasia or carcinoma in situ. It should not replace an indicated tissue biopsy.
Source: Research Square
Language: English
Subfield: General Dentistry
Field: Dentistry
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7220949033