Importance of microRNAs as potential biomarkers for oral carcinoma

Background The number of miRNA expression profiling studies and research about miRNA-based biomarkers in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has recently increased, particularly in the Asian region, whereas research about miRNA-based biomarkers has only scarcely been investigated in Europe. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic impact of eight miRNAs in a European OSCC study cohort and a validation cohort from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).

Methods Expression levels of hsa-mir-21-5p, hsa-mir-29-3p, hsa-mir-31-5p, hsa-mir-99a-5p, hsa-mir-99b-3p, hsa-mir-100-5p, hsa-mir-143-3p and hsa-mir-155-5p were analyzed in tumor tissue (n = 36) and correlated with clinical outcomes. Results were validated by comparison with an OSCC TCGA cohort (n = 98).

Results Results of the study cohort indicate, that high expression level of hsa-mir-29b-3p, hsa-mir-31-5p, hsa-mir-100-5p and hsa-mir-155-5p were associated with a significantly worse oncologic outcome. High expression levels of hsa-mir-21-5p, hsa-mir-99a, hsa-mir-99b-3p and hsa-mir-143-3p were significantly associated with better oncologic outcome. Moreover, we found that a high hsa-mir-100-5p expression level significantly correlates with a poorer survival in the TCGA cohort. In addition, a significant association between high hsa-mir-100-5p expression level and extracapsular extension was observed in the study cohort.

Conclusion The classification into prognostic groups via analysis of miRNA expression is feasible. Additionally, we are the first to discuss hsa-mir-100-5p as an unfavorable prognostic biomarker in OSCC: In future, expression level analysis of hsa-mir-100-5p may enable a clinical classification into prognostic groups and aid in the decision of individual therapeutic regiments for OSCC patients.

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Publication History

Article published online:
10 June 2020