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

Abstract

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.

Plain language summary

Early detection of head and neck cancer is crucial. In this study, we established a diagnostic model based on blood samples. This is a convenient diagnostic and screening tool that can help people early detect head and neck cancer.

Summary points

• Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, and more than 60% of new cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage.

• Traditional tumor screening tools, including imaging and the analysis of protein markers, are insufficient for early detection of disease.

• Liquid biopsy of miRNAs is a non-invasive technique that can be easily used to screen patients.

• A total of 192 plasma miRNAs were differentially expressed between HNSCC patients and non-cancerous controls in the screening cohort, including 37 upregulated and 155 downregulated.

• The top ten most significantly upregulated and downregulated miRNA target mRNAs were predicted by miRDB and TargetScan.

• GO and KEGG analyses for target mRNAs were included in the bioinformatics analysis.

• miR-95-3p and miR-579-5p were significantly upregulated and miR-1298-3p was downregulated in HNSCC patients in the validation set compared with non-cancerous controls.

• Further analysis showed that miR-95-3p and miR-1298-3p expression was significantly correlated with the clinical stage of HNSCC.

• The final diagnostic panel included miR-95-3p, miR-579-5p and miR-1298-3p, with an area under the curve of 0.83.

Keywords: :

• biomarker
• diagnosis
• head and neck cancer
• miRNA
• plasma

Acknowledgments

The authors thank S Williams from Liwen Bianji (Edanz) (www.liwenbianji.cn/) for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

Author contributions

WX Liu and Y Liu conceived the idea. WX Liu, Y Liu, P Li, J Chen and JM Liu collected and assembled the clinical data. WX Liu and Y Liu conducted the experiments. WX Liu, Y Liu, P Li, Z Shi, H Liu and Y Jin analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors read and agreed with the final manuscript.

Financial disclosure

This work was supported by funds from the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (201903010024) and the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (81902771). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Competing interests disclosure

The authors have no competing interests or relevant affiliations with any organization or entity with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Writing disclosure

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by funds from the Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (201903010024) and the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (81902771). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.