Rizwan Muhammad, Mahjabeen Ishrat, Haris Muhammad Shahbaz, Qayyum Fouzia, Kayani Mahmood Akhtar
Cancer Genetics & Epigenetics Research Group, Department of Biosciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Department of ENT, Bahawalpur Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2025 Jan-Dec;24:15330338251323314. doi: 10.1177/15330338251323314.
Exosomes play significant roles in transferring cargo materials like proteins, RNAs (including miRNAs), and DNA. However, the role of serum exosome shuttled RNAs and miRNAs in head and neck cancer (HNC) remains unclear. This study assessed the diagnostic and prognostic significance of exosomal , , and in HNC patients. Exosomes were isolated, from 400 confirmed HNC patients and 400 healthy controls, and characterized by NTA, TEM, Immunolabelling, and ELISA. Quantitative PCR was used to check the expressions of exosomal molecules. Oxidative stress was also measured through ELISA in cancer patients and healthy controls. Data analysis revealed significant dysregulation in the expressional levels of miR-17 (p < .0001), miR-20a (p = .0003), and (p = .0005), which were found associated with aggressiveness and poor survival of HNC patients. Spearman correlation revealed a positive statistically significant association between miR-20a versus miR-17 (r = 0.534; p < .01), while a negative correlation was found between versus miR-17 (r = -0.240; p = .015). Significantly decreased levels of peroxidase (POD) (p < .0001) and an increased level of 8-Oxoguanine (p < .0001) were observed. The results showed that these exosomal miRNAs and target gene may serve as potential and noninvasive diagnostic and prognostic markers for head and neck cancer patients.
外泌体在转运蛋白质、RNA（包括微小RNA）和DNA等货物材料方面发挥着重要作用。然而，血清外泌体穿梭RNA和微小RNA在头颈癌（HNC）中的作用仍不清楚。本研究评估了外泌体 、 和 在HNC患者中的诊断和预后意义。从400例确诊的HNC患者和400例健康对照中分离出外泌体，并通过纳米颗粒跟踪分析、透射电子显微镜、免疫标记和酶联免疫吸附测定进行表征。采用定量聚合酶链反应检测外泌体分子的表达。还通过酶联免疫吸附测定在癌症患者和健康对照中测量氧化应激。数据分析显示，miR-17（p < 0.0001）、miR-20a（p = 0.0003）和 （p = 0.0005）的表达水平存在显著失调，这些失调与HNC患者的侵袭性和不良生存相关。Spearman相关性分析显示，miR-20a与miR-17之间存在正相关且具有统计学意义（r = 0.534；p < 0.01），而 与miR-17之间存在负相关（r = -0.240；p = 0.015）。观察到过氧化物酶（POD）水平显著降低（p < 0.0001），8-氧代鸟嘌呤水平升高（p < 0.0001）。结果表明，这些外泌体微小RNA和靶基因可能作为头颈癌患者潜在的非侵入性诊断和预后标志物。
