Oral squamous cell carcinoma under microscopic vision: A review of histological variants and its prognostic indicators Sahanaz Praveen Ahmed, Lekshmy Jayan, Thayalan Dineshkumar, Swarnalakshmi Raman SRM Journal of Research in Dental Sciences 2019 10(2):90-97 Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) entails quite noteworthy morbidity and mortality rates instead of immense amount of research and advances. Conventional OSCC can present as several variants that make up in aggregate about 10%–15% of all squamous cell carcinomas. Variants of OSCC frequently arise within the oral cavity. Accurate histopathological identification can assist the clinician to plan a precise treatment, as the prognosis of each of them differs extensively. The overall 5-year survival rate following treatment for OSCC is around 50% in most cases. The foremost prognostic elements are mode of invasion, surgical margins, incidence of lymph node metastasis, extracapsular spread, invasive tumor front grade, and clinical and histologic parameters, which are strongly linked with survival rate. Grading by gross histological differentiation does not influence prognosis, unless deeply invasive margins are evaluated by the pathologist. This review focused on the histopathological variants of OSCC with emphasis on prognostic and predictive indices together with molecular factors linked with survival and prognosis of OSCC patients. Hence, it is advised to use the amalgamation of both clinical and pathological indicators to assess the prognosis.