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