Downregulation of salivary miR‐3928 as a potential biomarker in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and oral lichen planus

Abstract

ObjectivesRecent studies highlighted the role of miR expressed in saliva as reliable diagnostic and prognostic tools in the long‐term monitoring of cancer processes such as oral squamous carcinoma (OSCC). Based on a few previous studies, it seems the miR‐3928 can be considered a master regulator in carcinogenesis, and it can be therapeutically exploited. This is the first study that compared oral potentially malignant disorder (OLP) and malignant (OSCC) lesions for miR‐3928 expression.Materials and MethodsIn this cross‐sectional study, saliva samples from 30 healthy control individuals, 30 patients with erosive/atrophic oral lichen planus, and 31 patients with OSCC were collected. The evaluation of miR‐3928 expression by q‐PCR and its correlation with clinicopathological indices were analyzed by Shapiro−Wilk, Kruskal−Wallis, Pearson's χ2, and Mann−Whitney tests. The p‐value less than .05 indicated statistically significant results.ResultsBased on nonparametric Kruskal−Wallis test results, there was a statistically significant difference between the ages of three study groups (p < .05). This test demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the average of miR‐3928 expression in three study groups (p < .05). The result of the χ2 test showed a statistically significant difference in miR‐3928 expression between patients with OLP (p = .01) and also patients with OSCC (p < .0001) in comparison to the control group.ConclusionsThe salivary miR‐3928 can play a tumor suppressive role in the pathobiology of OSCC, and it is significantly downregulated in patients. According to the potential tumor suppressive role of miR‐3928 in the OSCC process, we can consider this microRNA as a biomarker for future early diagnosis, screening, and potential target therapy.