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miR-183 and miR-21 expression as biomarkers of progression and survival in tongue carcinoma patients

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Abstract

Objectives

Micro RNAs (miRNAs) have a major role in human cancerogenesis.The current study investigated the prognostic significance of miR-183 and miR-21 expression in tongue carcinoma patients.

Material and method

For qPCR of miR-183 and miR-21 expression, total RNA isolated from 60 fresh-frozen tissue of tongue carcinomas was converted into cDNA by TaqMan MicroRNA Reverse Transcription Kit and quantified by TaqMan MicroRNAs Expression Assays. Fold changes in the miRNAs expression, normalized to RNU6B, were determined using 2−ΔΔCt method, and dichotomized into high and low according to cut-off values derived from ROC curve analysis.

Results

miR-183 emerged as promising discriminatory biomarker of poor outcome. Tissue over-expression of miR-183, observed in 68.3% of tongue carcinomas, was associated with clinical stage (p = 0.037), tumor size (p = 0.036), and high alcohol intake (p = 0.034).The patients with miR-183 over-expression had significantly shorter overall survival (p = 0.006) and a 5.666 times higher risk of poor outcome (p = 0.005), while miR-21 over-expression carried a tendency towards poorer survival (p = 0.073). However, multivariate analysis revealed that the recurrences were independent adverse prognostic factors, while miR-183 over-expression lost its significance.

Conclusion

Our results suggests that over-expression of miR-183 in tumor tissue could be a potential marker of clinical stage and a poor survival of tongue carcinoma patients and may be associated with high alcohol consumption.

Clinical relevance

Oncogenic miRNAs, such as the investigated miR-183 and miR-21, could be novel prognostic biomarkers of tumor progression and adverse clinical outcome in oral cancer, as well as novel therapeutic targets in cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Military Medical Academy, University of Defense, Belgrade, Serbia

    Gordana Supic, Ruzica Kozomara & Zvonko Magic

  2. Institute for Medical Research, Military Medical Academy, Crnotravska 17, Belgrade, 11002, Serbia

    Gordana Supic & Zvonko Magic

  3. Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Katarina Zeljic

  4. Institute for Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Aleksandra Divac Rankov, Aleksandra Nikolic & Dragica Radojkovic

  5. Clinic for Maxillofacial Surgery, Military Medical Academy, Belgrade, Serbia

    Ruzica Kozomara

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  1. Gordana Supic
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  2. Katarina Zeljic
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  4. Ruzica Kozomara
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  7. Zvonko Magic
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Correspondence to Gordana Supic.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

The work was supported by the Faculty of Medicine, Military Medical Academy, University of Defense, Belgrade, Serbia, grant MFVMA/12/16–18, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia, grant no. 173008.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human tissue samples were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional committee, the Ethics Committee of the Military Medical Academy, Belgrade, Serbia, and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Supic, G., Zeljic, K., Rankov, A.D. et al. miR-183 and miR-21 expression as biomarkers of progression and survival in tongue carcinoma patients. Clin Oral Invest 22, 401–409 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-017-2126-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-017-2126-y

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