Tehran University of Medical Sciences Journal of Craniomaxillofacial Research 2345-5489 5 2 2018 09 23 79 84 EN Pouria Motahhary Oral and Maxillofacial Pathologist, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mahnaz Sahebjamee Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Maryam Nasimi Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Zohreh Khodashenas Student of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Fatemeh Hajian Department of Periodontics, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Kambiz Kamyab Department of Dermatopathology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2018 03 18 2018 07 08 Objective: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is an aggressive neoplasm with serious morbidity and mortality, which typically spreads through local invasive growth. A key approach to this tumor would be to detect potentially malignant lesions at their early stages. The transcription factor, Sex determining region Y-box  2 (SOX2) is an essential regulator of pluripotent stem cells and promotes developmentand maintenance  of squamous epithelia. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 24 samples of SCC, oral epithelial dysplasia and control group, then immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect SOX2 expression. Results: Comparisons between SCC and oral epithelial dysplasia group did not reveal any significant difference (p=0.496); also values of control and oral epithelial dysplasia group were statically different (p<0.001). Similarly, a significant difference was observed between the values of SCC and controls’ (p<0.001). Conclusion: In conclusion, SOX2 overexpression is seen in oral dysplasia and SCC and their detection in early  stages could be crucial for early tumor identification. https://jcr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jcr/article/view/204 https://jcr.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jcr/article/download/204/232