Ugrappa Sridevi
Despite many advances in the field of therapeutics for oral cancers, morbidity rate remains high and five years survival rate is moderately improved. As it is known that, head and neck carcinomas are sixth most frequent type of human cancer globally, among which oral squamous cell carcinoma is common type. Role of EGFR has gained much important in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma as a potential target for new therapies. EGFR consists of an extracellular N-terminal ligand-binding domain, a hydrophobic transmembrane region, and an intracellular C-terminal tyrosine kinase (TK) domain. The EGFR gene can be mapped to chromosome 7p11.2 and encodes a 170-kDa transmembrane glycoprotein. Alterations in the function of EGFR have been linked with oncogenic transformation, autonomous cell growth, invasion, angiogenesis, and development of metastases in several cancers and are key characteristics of tumours. In recent years, EGFR has been considered a promising target for monoclonal antibody targeted therapy in conjugation with nanotechnology. The objective of the presentation is to highlight the significance of EGFR as targeted therapy for the oral squamous cell carcinomas.
