Abstract 1946: Downregulated microRNAs in salivary rinse from patients with head and neck squamous cells carcinoma.

Abstract

Abstract Head and neck Squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a disease with high incidence and mortality, and the sixth most common cancer worldwide. The diagnosis is usually made late, after the appearance of visible lesions. The discovery of altered epigenetic profiles in cancer awakened to new paradigms by which molecular mechanisms contribute significantly to carcinogenesis. To date, approximately 1000 miRNAs have been described and it is estimated that they may influence the expression of up to one third of human genes. The deregulation of the expression of miRNAs can directly influence cell proliferation and differentiation and therefore, they can act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors. The aim of this study is to compare the miRNAs expression profiles in saliva samples from patients with HNSCC and normal controls in order to identify potential diagnostic markers for this cancer. Comprehensive miRNA profile was done in 4 salivary rinse samples from HNSCC patients and 3 samples from healthy donors using a Megaplex TaqMan Low Density miRNA Arrays (TLDA) to assess the expression status of miRNAs. 101 miRNAs differentialy expressed were identified. From that, 21 were upregulated in the HNSCC samples while 80 were downregulated in these samples. After a deep revision of the information available from them, we selected candidates to be validated in an independent group of 100 salivary rinses collected from HNSCC patient at diagnoses. A preliminary result indicated that four selected miRNA were down regulated with 90-91% of specificity and 53-64% of sensibility. Our hypothesis is based on the fact that the down regulation confirmed in our results may be related to the potential of tumor suppressor activity of these miRNAs; Besides the validation obtained by our tests, important studies in the literature show agreement with this hypothesis and may add relevant data in developing this study. Supported by Fapesp (Grant 2011/15122-9). Citation Format: Maria Fernanda A. Pelarin, Maria Aderuza Horst, Ana Carolina Carvalho, Luiz Paulo Kowalski, André Luiz Vettore, Bruno Karia. Downregulated microRNAs in salivary rinse from patients with head and neck squamous cells carcinoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1946. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1946