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Updated: Apr 18, 2026
Author Spotlight: Unlocking the Mysteries of Oral Potential Malignancies
Published on: August 11, 2023
LGR5 expression in oral epithelial dysplasia and oral squamous cell carcinoma
Andrew J Dalley1, Ahmad A Abdul Majeed1, Luke P Pitty2
1The University of Queensland, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Objective:
LGR5 is pivotal to oral cavity development and is implicated in epithelial malignancy whereby stimulation of LGR5 potentiates canonical Wnt signaling. This investigation tested our hypothesis of a correlation between LGR5 expression and the severity of oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
Study Design:
Immunoreactive LGR5 protein expression was quantified in 342 tissue samples ranging in disease severity from normal through mild and moderate or severe OED to OSCC.
Results:
LGR5 was restricted to the basal layers for normal tissues, projected to the stratum granulosum in severe dysplasia, intense in carcinoma nests of well-differentiated OSCC, but uniformly diffuse throughout poorly differentiated OSCC. Median LGR5 immunoreactivity index scores increased with disease severity: mild dysplasia = 1 < moderate or severe dysplasia = 2.5 < OSCC = 6.
Conclusions:
Inclusion of LGR5 in a panel of immunohistochemical biomarkers may improve identification of increased potential for malignancy in OED.
