The cyclin D1 oncogene is frequently amplified/overexpressed in oral squamous cell carcinomas. Mice with overexpression of cyclin D1 targeted to the stratified squamous epithelia of the tongue, esophagus and forestomach develop a phenotype of epithelial dysplasia at these sites. In this study, we examined the effect cyclin D1 overexpression on susceptibility of mice to carcinogeninduced tumorigenesis, using 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO), an established potent oral carcinogen in mice. Cyclin D1 overexpressing mice and non-transgenic littermates were administered 4NQO (20 ppm or 50 ppm in the drinking water) for 8 weeks and monitored for an additional 16 weeks. Histopathological analyses of the tongue revealed significantly higher severity of dysplasia in the cyclin D1 overexpression mice, compared with non-transgenic controls and with untreated controls. Moreover, only the cyclin D1 overexpression mice developed neoplastic lesions in the oro-esophageal epithelia. Examination of the dysplastic and neoplastic lesions reveled abnormal proliferation. Our findings suggest that cyclin D1 overexpression enhances susceptibility to carcinogen-induced oral tumorigenesis. These results underscore the importance of cyclin D1 in the process of oral neoplastic development. Further, they emphasize the value of this transgenic model to study the pathogenesis of oral precancer and cancer and establish it as a model system to test candidate agents for chemoprevention of upper aero-digestive cancer.

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