Figure 1

Diagram of expression of the members of HOXA locus in samples from healthy oral mucosa, normal-looking oral mucosa adjacent to OSCC, and OSCC. Each symbol represents one specific sample, and their positions are preserved throughout the image. Circles represent healthy oral mucosa derived from patients without contact with the main oral cancer risk factors, and triangles and squares represent normal-looking mucosa and OSCC from the same patient, respectively. Open symbols indicate silent (inactive) HOXA genes, whereas closed symbols indicate active genes. Note the abundance of active genes in OSCC samples.