Polz Anna, Morshed Kamal, Bibik Robert, Drop Bartłomiej, Drop Andrzej, Polz-Dacewicz Małgorzata
Synevo Poland, 80-180 Gdańsk, Poland.
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Cancer, University of Technology and Humanities in Radom, 26-600 Radom, Poland.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jul 26;24(15):11965. doi: 10.3390/ijms241511965.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has a well-documented association with head and neck neoplasms, including nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In the last few years, research aimed at elucidating the role of the miRs in the pathogenesis of head and neck cancer (HNC) has gained importance. The study of miRs expression has set new directions in the search for biomarkers with diagnostic and prognostic value, and even in the search for new therapeutic targets for various tumors, including HNC. The aim of current study was to approximate the importance of miR-31-5p and miR-let 7a in the pathogenesis of EBV associated oropharyngeal cancer. For this purpose, experiments were carried out to determine the level of mentioned miRs in serum among patients diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer linked to EBV infection, depending on histological differentiation-grading (G1-G3) and TNM classification. All clinical specimens stratified by HPV status were HPV negative. The level of antibodies EBNA and EBVCA was also assessed. The obtained results showed a significantly increased serum level of miR-31-5p but decreased level of miR-let 7a in EBV positive oropharyngeal cancer patients. We demonstrated association between the level of tested miRs and clinical stage. Our findings showed that miR-31-5p and miR-let-7a may be involved in development and progression of EBV associated oropharyngeal cancer. Therefore, it seems important to further study these molecules, as well as to determine whether they could be important biomarkers in the diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer associated with EBV infection.
爱泼斯坦-巴尔病毒（EBV）与头颈部肿瘤，包括鼻咽癌（NPC）之间的关联已有充分记录。在过去几年中，旨在阐明微小RNA（miRs）在头颈部癌（HNC）发病机制中作用的研究变得愈发重要。对miRs表达的研究为寻找具有诊断和预后价值的生物标志物，甚至为寻找包括HNC在内的各种肿瘤的新治疗靶点指明了新方向。本研究的目的是评估miR-31-5p和miR-let 7a在EBV相关口咽癌发病机制中的重要性。为此，开展了实验，以确定与EBV感染相关的口咽癌患者血清中上述miRs的水平，具体取决于组织学分化分级（G1-G3）和TNM分类。所有按人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）状态分层的临床标本均为HPV阴性。还评估了EBNA和EBVCA抗体的水平。所得结果显示，EBV阳性口咽癌患者血清中miR-31-5p水平显著升高，而miR-let 7a水平降低。我们证明了所检测的miRs水平与临床分期之间的关联。我们的研究结果表明，miR-31-5p和miR-let-7a可能参与了EBV相关口咽癌的发生和发展。因此，进一步研究这些分子，以及确定它们是否可能是EBV感染相关口咽癌诊断中的重要生物标志物似乎很重要。
