The tumour microenvironment is known to play an important role in tumour development and progression. The diversity and role of stromal fibroblasts in human oral cancer, however, is unknown. In this study, fibroblasts were oral cancer, however, is unknown. In this study, fibroblasts were isolated from cultures of normal oral mucosa, oral epithelial dysplasia and mortal and immortal oral carcinomas, the latter malignancy being genetically unstable. Using global gene expression profiling, we demonstrated that fibroblasts clustered according to their tissue of origin.