Research Article Selected E2F2 Polymorphisms in Oral and Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Karolina Gołąbek , 1 Krzysztof Biernacki, 1 Jadwiga Gaździcka, 1 Joanna K. Strzelczyk, 1 Katarzyna Miśkiewicz-Orczyk, 2 Łukasz Krakowczyk, 3 Natalia Zięba, 2 Paweł Kiczmer, 4 Zofia Ostrowska, 1 and Maciej Misiołek 2 1 Department of Medical and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Zabrze 41-808, Poland 2 Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Oncological Laryngology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Zabrze 41-800, Poland 3 Clinic of Oncological and Reconstructive Surgery, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Gliwice 44-102, Poland 4 Department of Pathomorphology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Zabrze 41-800, Poland Correspondence should be addressed to Karolina Gołąbek; kgolabek@sum.edu.pl Received 15 August 2020; Revised 3 November 2020; Accepted 12 March 2021; Published 30 March 2021 Academic Editor: Kazim Husain Copyright © 2021 Karolina Gołąbek et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) are subgroups of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. E2F Transcription Factor 2 (E2F2) could contribute to cancer development, because it plays a critical role in many cellular processes, including the cell cycle, proliferation, differentiation, DNA damage response, and cell death. In the current study, we assessed the associations of five E2F2 polymorphisms (rs6667575, rs3218121, rs3218211, rs3218148, and rs3218203) with OSCC and OPSCC and influence on the TNM staging and grading. This is the first such survey to concern the European population. The study included 94 primary tumour samples following surgical resection from patients, whereas the control group consisted of 99 healthy individuals. We tried a matching of cases and controls for age and sample size. DNA samples were genotyped by employing the 5 ′ nuclease assay for allelic discrimination. Our results suggested that the most significant difference between the control group and the cancer group was the A/G heterozygote for rs3218121. Samples containing this genotype were mostly found in the control group. In our samples, rs6667575, rs3218121, rs3218211, and rs3218148 polymorphisms may affect the course of OSCC and OPSCC, while rs3218203 was not associated with OSCC and OPSCC. However, further studies are warranted to confirm our findings. 1. Introduction Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is an epi- thelial tumour with more than 800 000 cases diagnosed each year [1, 2] with the overall 5-year survival rate of approxi- mately 40-50% [2]. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common type of HNSCC. HNSCC is also com- mon in the oropharynx (OPSCC) [3]. The incidence of these two types of HNSCC is still increasing [4, 5]. Exposure to tobacco and moderate alcohol consumption are important etiological factors in HNSCC carcinogenesis. Infections with high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) are responsible for an increasing proportion of OSCC [6, 7]. Other factors include poor oral hygiene, exposure to carcinogenic chemi- cals, and poor diet [6, 8, 9]. Another potential group of risk factors is related to endogenous factors such as genetic pre- disposition [9]. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are typical examples of this group [10]. Some studies showed Hindawi BioMed Research International Volume 2021, Article ID 8098130, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8098130