Upregulation of epidermal growth factor receptor 4 in oral leukoplakia

Abstract

People with the condition known as leukoplakia, which causes thickened, white patches to form inside the mouth, express elevated levels of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) 4, a signaling molecule that has been linked to cancer. The findings, reported by Yoshiki Hamada of Tsurumi University, Japan, and colleagues could explain one of the drivers of this precancerous dental disease and provide a new target for drug therapies. Hamada and his colleagues compared the expression profile of the four EGFR-family genes and their target ligands among 14 people with leukoplakia, 10 people with a separate mouth condition known as oral lichen planus and 14 healthy controls. They showed that only the fourth receptor, sometimes called HER4 or ErbB4, was overexpressed in people with leukoplakia along with two of its activating ligands, Neuregulin 2 and 4.

Keywords

epidermal growth factor receptor / immunohistochemistry / oral leukoplakia / quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction

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