*Department of Oral Pathology, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing, China

‖National Center of Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & National Engineering Research Center of Oral Biomaterials and Digital Medical Devices, Beijing, China

†Research Unit of Precision Pathologic Diagnosis in Tumors of the Oral and Maxillofacial Regions, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2019RU034), Beijing, China

‡Central laboratory, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing, China

§Department of Periodontology, Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

L.Z. identified the patients for the cohort, performed immunohistochemical assays and RNA sequencing-based techniques, prepared the figures and tables, and drafted the manuscript. L.S. prepared the figures and tables and drafted the manuscript. Y.Z. and Xi. L. prepared the figures and tables. Xu. L. collected the fresh frozen samples. Z.Z. and Y.C. collected the clinical and pathology data of the patients. C.-X.Z. and T.-J.L. performed the study concept and design, reviewed the pathology and clinical data, edited the manuscript, and prepared the project for submission. All the authors have read and approved the final paper.

This work was supported by research grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 81671006, 82103061, and 30901680] and the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences [grant number 2019-I2M-5-038]. The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Conflicts of Interest and Source of Funding: The authors have disclosed that they have no significant relationships with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this article.

Correspondence: Chuan-Xiang Zhou, PhD (e-mail: [email protected]), and Tie-jun Li, PhD (e-mail: [email protected]), Department of Oral Pathology, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing 100081, P.R. China.

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