Maryam Kouhsoltani
1, Amirala Aghbali
1, Behrooz Shokoohi
2*, Ronak Ahmadzadeh
31 Dental and Periodontal Research Center and Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
2 Hematology Oncology Research Center and Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
3 Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Abstract
Purpose: Target therapy against molecular markers
of EGFR family has been recently used in the treatment protocol of several
diseases. However, the role of Her-2/neu in OSCC is a matter of
controversy and more studies are required to clarify the
role of Her-2/neu in
OSCC. We aimed to investigate the role of Her-2/neu in the process of carcinogenesis in oral
epithelium as ELP is a premalignant and OSCC is a malignant lesion, but RLP
shows no evidence of premalignancy and malignancy.To our Knowledge, this is the first study comparing
Her-2/neu expression in erosive lichen planus (ELP), reticular lichen planus
(RLP), and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
Methods: 60
samples, including 20 cases of RLP, 20 cases of ELP, and 20 cases of OSCC were
evaluated immunohistochemically in this study.
Results: Our findings showed that there was not a
significant increase in Her-2/neu expression from RLP to ELP and from ELP to
OSCC. Therefore, Her-2/neu had no role in differentiating between RLP, ELP and
OSCC and this protein does not contribute to the process of carcinogenesis in
the oral epithelium.
Conclusion: The lack
of Her-2/neu overexpression indicates that molecular targeting of Her-2/neu
protein is not recommended as an adjuvant therapy in OSCC and OLP.