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Updated: Aug 30, 2026
Intramucosal Inoculation of Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells in Mice for Tumor Immune Profiling and Treatment Response Assessment
Published on: April 22, 2019
Expression of ErbB-3 and ErbB-4 protooncogene proteins in oral squamous cell carcinoma: a pilot study
Juan Carlos de Vicente1, Isabel Esteban, Patricia Germanà
1Servicio de Cirugía Oral y Maxilofacial, Hospital Central de Asturias, Facultad de Medicina de Oviedo, España. jvicente@correo.uniovi.es
Background:
To examine the occurrence of ErbB-3 and ErbB- 4 in oral squamous cell carcinoma, as well as investigate statistical correlations between the expression of these protooncogene proteins and clinical and pathological tumor characteristics.
Study Design:
Nineteen oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) were analyzed using immunohistochemistry.
Results:
Positive immunostaining for ErbB-3 was found in 13/19 (68%) cases and for ErbB-4 in 10/19 (52%). The intensity of immunostaining for ErbB-3 positive cases was low in 8 (42.1%) and high in 5 (26.3%) cases, and for ErbB-4 ones was low in 6 (31.6%) and high in 4 (21%) of the 19 cases. ErbB-4 overexpression and TNM stage showed a significant correlation (Spearman correlation coefficient=0.467; P=0.04). The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the overexpression of ErbB-3 and ErbB-4 had no an influence on survival (P>0.05), but TNM stage was inversely related to survival (P=0.04). There was a significant association between the expression of ErbB-3 and ErbB-4 (chi2=6.193, P=0.037).
Conclusion:
The results of the present study suggest that c-erbB-4 may contribute to tumor growth and progression.
