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Circulating miRNA is a novel marker for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate the alteration of plasma miRNA in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Altered microRNAs (miRNAs) expression has been found in many cancers, including lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer and colorectal cancer. Many recent studies have demonstrated that aberrant plasma miRNAs were also found in various types of cancers. However the alteration of plasma expression in HNSCC remains unclear. In this present study, the expression profiles of ten miRNAs, let-7a, miR-21, miR26b, miR-34c, miR-99a, miR-133a, miR-137, miR-184, miR-194a, and miR-375, in plasma from 50 patients and 36 healthy subjects were evaluated using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Our results demonstrated that the expression level of miR-21 was significantly up-regulated in plasma samples obtained from HNSCC patients (p < 0.01) than those from healthy subjects, which were in consistent with our finding in HNSCC tissues. A 7.7-fold increase of miR-21 in cancerous parts when compared to their non-cancerous counterparts (p < 0.0001) was observed in HNSCC tissues. In addition, the expression levels of miR-21 and miR-26b were both reduced in post-operative HNSCC patients with good prognosis. In contrast, the concentration of plasma miR-21 and miR-26b stayed high after tumor removal in the expired cases. Our study suggests that detecting circulating miR-21 and miR-26b pre- and post-operatively might provide a novel tumor marker for HNSCC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

    Cheng-Ming Hsu

  2. Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, 123 Da-Pi Road, Niaosung Shiang, 833, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

    Cheng-Ming Hsu

  3. Department of Nursing, I-Shou University, Number 1, Section 1, Syuecheng Road, Dashu Township, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

    Pai-Mei Lin

  4. Department of Radiation Oncology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, 123 Da-Pi Road, Niaosung Shiang, 833, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

    Yu-Ming Wang

  5. Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, 333, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan

    Zong-Jyun Chen & Ming-Yu Yang

  6. Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, 100 Tzyou 1st Road, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

    Sheng-Fung Lin

  7. Faculty of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Tzyou 1st Road, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

    Sheng-Fung Lin

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Hsu, CM., Lin, PM., Wang, YM. et al. Circulating miRNA is a novel marker for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Tumor Biol. 33, 1933–1942 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-012-0454-8

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