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PURPOSE Identification of molecular biomarkers in the saliva and serum of oral cavity cancer patients represents a first step in the development of essential and efficient clinical tools for early detection and post-treatment monitoring. Molecular analyses of paired saliva and serum samples from an individual patient will likely yield better results than analyses of either serum or saliva alone. METHODS We performed whole-transcriptome and small non-coding RNA sequencing analyses on sixteen paired saliva and serum samples from patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and healthy controls (HC). RESULTS We identified twelve novel saliva and serum miRNAs and a panel of unique miRNA and mRNA signatures, significantly differentially expressed in saliva and serum of OSCC patients versus HC (log2foldchange: 2.6–26.8 DE 0.02–0.000001). We utilized a panel of the 10 top-deregulated miRNA and mRNA markers, hsa-miR-7704, hsa-miR-3648-5p, TNC, MMP10, TP63 in saliva and hsa-miR-23a-5p, hsa-miR-499a-5p, hsa-miR-556-5p, RELA(p65), and TCAIM in serum, and evaluated its putative diagnostic potential (>87% sensitivity 100% specificity). Based on this preliminary analysis, we recommended a set of 10 biomarkers for further validation as a biomarker panel for the detection of oral cancer. Functional and pathway analyses based on the discovered miRNAs and mRNAs and their targets indicated interactions with canonical pathways, including PI3K/AKT signaling. CONCLUSION We have identified a panel of miRNA and mRNA markers exhibiting promise as non-invasive biomarkers for oral cavity cancer and recommend further clinical testing.
Vageli et al. (Mon,) studied this question.