Spindle cell carcinoma of the tongue: a rare variant of squamous cell carcinoma

Spindle cell carcinoma (SpCC), a rare, aggressive variant of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), is characterised by proliferation of epithelial and mesenchymal components. It is important to diagnose this variant of SCC, because of its tendency to recur and early metastasis. It accounts for 1% of all tumours in the oral cavity. In this paper, we have reported a case of SpCC of the tongue in a 65-year-old male who presented with a polypoidal growth over the lateral border of his tongue with a short history of one month. Immunohistochemical expression of cytokeratin was strongly positive in the epithelial component and focally in the spindle cell component. The spindle cell component showed a strong positivity for vimentin.