Interferon stimulated gene-ISG15 is a potential diagnostic biomarker in oral squamous cell carcinomas.

Background: Cancer diagnostic biomarkers have a wide range of applications that include early detection of oral precancerous lesions and oral squamous cell carcinomas, and assessing the metastatic status of lesions. The interferon stimulated ISG15 gene encodes an ubiquitin-like protein, which conjugates to stabilize activation status of associated proteins. Hence a deregulated expression of ISG15 may promote carcinogenesis.