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Exploiting salivary miR‐31 as a clinical biomarker of oral squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Liu ChungJi,
Lin ShuChun,
Yang ChengChieh,
Cheng HuiWen,
Chang KuoWei
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.21713
Subject(s) - saliva , biomarker , malignancy , microrna , medicine , carcinogenesis , carcinoma , leukoplakia , downregulation and upregulation , cancer research , pathology , cancer , biology , gene , biochemistry
Abstract Background Oral carcinoma is an important malignancy throughout the world. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenously expressed, non‐coding RNAs that regulate post‐transcriptional levels of targeted mRNAs. MiRNA‐31 ( miR‐31 ) is significantly upregulated in oral carcinoma tissues and plays oncogenic roles in oral carcinogenesis. Methods We analyzed the levels of miR‐31 in saliva of patients with oral carcinoma ( n = 45), oral verrucous leukoplakia ( n = 10), and control healthy individuals ( n = 24) by quantitative reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). Results Salivary miR‐31 was significantly increased in patients with oral carcinoma at all clinical stages, including very small tumors. However, our preliminary analysis showed no increase of salivary miR‐31 in patients with oral verrucous leukoplakia relative to controls. The miR‐31 was more abundant in saliva than in plasma, suggesting salivary miR‐31 was a more sensitive marker for oral malignancy. After excision of oral carcinoma, salivary miR‐31 was remarkably reduced, indicating that most of the upregulated salivary miR‐31 came from tumor tissues. Conclusion Our results point to a potential application of salivary miR‐31 as a biomarker for early detection and postoperative follow‐up of oral carcinoma. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2012