Correlation Between Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor And Canceration Of Oral Leukoplakia

Objective:Recent studies have demonstrated that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) play an important role in occurrence and development of oral malignant tumors. In clinical,we found that some patients with oral leukoplakia (OLK) wound cancerate,but most OLK can grow steady and not cancerate. The present study was undertaken to investigate inherent differences between these two kinds OLK,and the correlation between expression of epidermal growth factor receptor and canceration of OLK.Methods: OLK patients were divided into 2 groups according to existing canceration:Canceration group(CG) and No Canceration group(NCG). CG comprised of 19 patients, NCG consisted of 31 patients. The sections of these two groups were stained with EGFR Immunohistochemical stainings for evaluation using a light microscope.Results: The expression of EGFR in CG was obviously higher than NCG, and showed a significant difference between them (P<0.05).Conclusions: Over-expression of EGFR indicated poor prognosis in OLK patients. OLK with over-expression of EGFR may have higher malignant potential, and it might be one important biological sign of oral leukoplakia canceration.