METHODS: EGFR GCN was examined by in situ hybridization (ISH) in biopsies from 78 patients with OPMD and 92 patients with early-stage (stages I and II) OSCC. EGFR ISH signals were scored by two pathologists and a category assigned by consensus. The data were correlated with patient demographics and clinical outcomes.

RESULTS: OPMD with abnormal EGFR GCN were more likely to undergo malignant transformation than diploid cases. EGFR genomic gain was detected in a quarter of early-stage OSCC, but did not correlate with clinical outcomes.

CONCLUSION: These data suggest that abnormal EGFR GCN has clinical utility as a biomarker for the detection of OPMD destined to undergo malignant transformation. Prospective studies are required to verify this finding. It remains to be determined if EGFR GCN could be used to select patients for EGFR-targeted therapies.

Methods: We identified 60 Malaysian patients with OPSCC over a 12-year period (2004-2015) from four different hospitals in two major cities, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. The detection of HPV was carried out using p16 immunohistochemistry and high risk HPV DNA in situ hybridisation.

Results: Overall, 15 (25%) tumours were p16 positive by immunohistochemistry, 10 of which were also positive for high risk HPV DNA by in situ hybridisation. By comparison, a matched cohort of UK patients had a p16 positive rate of 49%. However, between 2009 and 2015, where cases were available from all four hospitals, 13 of 37 (35%) cases were p16 positive. In our Malaysian cohort, 53% of patients were of Chinese ethnicity and 80% of the p16 positive cases were found in these patients; no Indian patients had p16 positive disease, despite representing 35% of the total cohort.