Nuclear SOX2 expression was detected in four (7%) cases of oral epithelial dysplasia, using a cut-off of 10% stained nuclei, and in 16 (29%) cases when any positive nuclei was evaluated.
Mutations in TP53 and CDKN2A and copy number alterations in 11q (contains CCND1), 3q (contains SOX2), 2q (contains NFE2L2), and 9p (contains CDKN2A) were considered to be trunk variants; these were dominant mutations detected at high frequencies in clones of paired IEN and ESCC samples.
Transcriptional master regulators like Sox2 and Oct4, which are expressed in various human tumors, have been shown to cause tumor growth promotion as well as epithelial dysplasia by means of interfering with progenitor cell differentiation.