The epidermal growth factor receptor axis: support for a new target for oral premalignancy

This perspective on the report by Benchekroun et al. in this issue of the journal (beginning on page 800) examines new studies of factors in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) axis (including copy number alterations at the EGFR locus) that potentially predict the development of oral cancer; this work was conducted in a chemoprevention trial cohort of patients with oral premalignant lesions. The new data raise the possibility that a subset of oral premalignant lesions may benefit from specific therapeutic targeting of the EGFR axis.