Altered Expression of miRNAs Is Related to Larynx Cancer TNM Stage and Patients' Smoking Status.

Abstract

It has been reported that microRNAs (miRNAs) are responsible for acquiring all the hallmarks of cancer cells, as well as have a significant impact on the clinical management of cancers at every stage, including prognosis, remission, relapse, and metastasis. In this study, we investigated the association of miR-29a-3p, miR-202-3p, miR-3713, miR-4768-3p, and miR-548aa expression with clinicopathologic features in patients suffering from laryngeal cancer (LC) and determined the potential role of studied miRNAs in the progression of LC. The study group consisted of 48 patients with untreated primary tumors of head and neck cancer localized in the larynx. Expression of the selected miRNAs was verified by the qRT-PCR technique. We showed that the expression of miR-29a as well as miR-548aa was positively correlated with tumor stage and lymph node metastasis, whereas the expression of miR-4768-3p was negatively correlated with lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, we investigated that exposure to cigarette smoke altered miRNA expression profile in LC. The expression level of miR-202-3p was significantly increased in smoking patients compared with nonsmokers, whereas the miR-4768-3p, miR-548aa, and miR-3713 were markedly decreased. Our research contributed toward better elucidating the mechanisms underlying the progression of LC as well as the use of miRNAs inhibitors as novel agents against progression and metastasis of LC.