Role of miR153 and miR455-5p Expression in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Isolated from Plasma

Identification of candidate plasma miRNA biomarkers for the diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Aim: Current head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) diagnostic tools are limited, so this study aimed to identify diagnostic microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers from plasma. Materials & methods: A total of 76 HNSCC and 76 noncancerous control (NC) plasma samples underwent microarray analysis and quantitative reverse transcription PCR to screen for diagnostic plasma miRNAs. The diagnostic potential of the miRNAs was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: miR-95-3p and miR-579-5p expression was shown to be significantly upregulated, and that of miR-1298-3p to be downregulated in HNSCC patients compared with controls. The final diagnostic panel included miR-95-3p, miR-579-5p and miR-1298-3p with an area under the curve of 0.83. Conclusion: This three-miRNA panel has potential for the diagnosis of HNSCC.

Emerging cell cycle related non-coding RNA biomarkers from saliva and blood for oral squamous cell carcinoma

The unnotified or undifferentiable early stages of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) progression are the prime reasons for late-stage detection and poor survival outcomes of oral cancer. This review summarizes the prior research and recent advancements on the influence of dysregulated non-coding RNA (ncRNA) on cell cycle and their employability as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of oral cancer. The literature search was performed using the following keywords: 'serum/saliva non-coding RNAs' and 'serum/saliva non-coding RNAs and cell cycle', 'serum/saliva dysregulated ncRNAs and cell cycle', 'Cdk/CKI and ncRNAs', 'tissue ncRNAs' concerning 'oral cancer''. The compiled data focuses mainly on the diagnostic and prognostic significance of MicroRNAs (miRNAs), Circular RNAs (circRNAs), and Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) on oral cancer and all other cancers as well as subject-relevant articles published in languages other than English are beyond the scope of this review and excluded from the study. Moreover, articles focusing on DNA, protein, and metabolite markers are eliminated from the study. While there exist various potential biomolecules such as DNA, RNA, proteins, metabolites, and specific antigens representing predictive biomarkers in body fluids for oral cancer, this review completely focuses on non-coding RNAs restricted to saliva and blood, picking out a few of the reliable ones amongst the recent investigations based on the sophisticated techniques, cohort, and sensitivity as well as specificity, i.e., salivary miR-1307-5p, miR-3928, hsa_circ_0001874 and ENST00000412740, NR_131012, ENST00000588803, NR_038323, miR-21 in circulation. Thus, further studies are required to clinically confirm the usage of these non-invasive biomarkers in oral cancer.

Preliminary study using a small plasma extracellular vesicle miRNA panel as a potential biomarker for early diagnosis and prognosis in laryngeal cancer

PURPOSE

Plasma extracellular vesicle (EV) miRNAs are important biomarkers for body fluid biopsy. The purpose of this study was to screen and construct a plasma small EV (sEV) miRNA panel as a biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC).

METHODS

Plasma sEV miRNAs from 6 LSCC patients with three typical anatomical sites and 3 normal controls (NCs) were analyzed by next-generation sequencing. The aberrant expression profile of sEV miRNAs was compared with the online databases of LSCC to construct and verify the diagnostic and prognostic panel by machine learning. Additionally, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT‒PCR) was performed to validate the diagnostic efficacy of the screened miRNAs in an independent clinical cohort.

RESULTS

A plasma sEV miRNA panel (consisting of hsa-miR-139-3p, hsa-miR-486-5p, hsa-miR-944, hsa-miR-320b and hsa-miR-455-5p) was successfully constructed for the early diagnosis and prognosis of LSCC and showed good predictive potential with AUCs of 0.782, 1.000, 0.716, and 0.875 by an artificial neural network (ANN) panel in independent datasets. This panel was further validated in an independent cohort consisting of 84 clinical cases (48 LSCC and 36 NCs). In the validation cohort, the AUC of the 5 individual miRNAs ranged from 0.721 to 0.837. The accuracy was further increased by the logistic model, which further increased the AUC to 0.959 by adjusting for the number of miRNAs. The miRNA‒mRNA regulatory network and immune function analysis revealed the possible underlying pathogenesis of LSCC.

CONCLUSION

Plasma sEV miRNA panels can be promising plasma biomarkers for predicting early diagnosis and prognosis in LSCC.

Non-Coding RNAs in Oral Cancer: Emerging Roles and Clinical Applications

Oral cancer (OC) is among the most prevalent cancers in the world. Certain geographical areas are disproportionately affected by OC cases due to the regional differences in dietary habits, tobacco and alcohol consumption. However, conventional therapeutic methods do not yield satisfying treatment outcomes. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand the disease process and to develop diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for OC. In this review, we discuss the role of various types of ncRNAs in OC, and their promising clinical implications as prognostic or diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets. MicroRNA (miRNA), long ncRNA (lncRNA), circular RNA (circRNA), PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA), and small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) are the major ncRNA types whose involvement in OC are emerging. Dysregulated expression of ncRNAs, particularly miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs, are linked with the initiation, progression, as well as therapy resistance of OC via modulation in a series of cellular pathways through epigenetic, transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and translational modifications. Differential expressions of miRNAs and lncRNAs in blood, saliva or extracellular vesicles have indicated potential diagnostic and prognostic importance. In this review, we have summarized all the promising aspects of ncRNAs in the management of OC.

Liquid Biopsy and Circulating Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Precancerous and Cancerous Oral Lesions

Oral cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, accounting for 2% of all cases annually and 1.8% of all cancer deaths. To date, tissue biopsy and histopathological analyses are the gold standard methods for the diagnosis of oral cancers. However, oral cancer is generally diagnosed at advanced stages with a consequent poor 5-year survival (~50%) due to limited screening programs and inefficient physical examination strategies. To address these limitations, liquid biopsy is recently emerging as a novel minimally invasive tool for the early identification of tumors as well as for the evaluation of tumor heterogeneity and prognosis of patients. Several studies have demonstrated that liquid biopsy in oral cancer could be useful for the detection of circulating biomarkers including circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), microRNAs (miRNAs), proteins, and exosomes, thus improving diagnostic strategies and paving the way to personalized medicine. However, the application of liquid biopsy in oral cancer is still limited and further studies are needed to better clarify its clinical impact. The present manuscript aims to provide an updated overview of the potential use of liquid biopsy as an additional tool for the management of oral lesions by describing the available methodologies and the most promising biomarkers.