Trevizani Maria Eduarda Salles, Marchi Fabio Albuquerque, Bizinelli Daniela, Oliveira Katia Klug, Mariano Fernanda Viviane, Nagano Cibele Pidorodeski, Costa Felipe D'Almeida, Pinto Clóvis Antonio Lopes, Kowalski Luiz Paulo, Lourenço Silvia Vanessa, Coutinho-Camillo Cláudia Malheiros
International Research Center, A.C.Camargo Cancer Center, São Paulo 01508-010, Brazil.
Department of Head and Neck Surgery, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo 01246-903, Brazil.
J Clin Med. 2025 Jul 13;14(14):4957. doi: 10.3390/jcm14144957.
Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most common malignant tumor of the salivary glands. Metastatic spread occurs in up to 80% of high-grade tumors; however, the mechanisms underlying this process are largely unknown. Large-scale microRNA (miRNA) expression profiling studies of human cancers have demonstrated that dysregulation of miRNA is frequently associated with many cancer types. This study aimed to investigate the miRNA profiles of metastatic and non-metastatic MECs. Using real-time RT-PCR (qPCR), we analyzed the expression of 377 miRNAs in four non-metastatic MECs, three MECs with lymph node metastasis, three MECs with distant metastasis, and two non-neoplastic human salivary glands. To identify differentially expressed miRNAs, bioinformatics analysis was performed using hierarchical clustering analysis. The miRNA profile discriminated between non-neoplastic and tumor samples and between metastatic and non-metastatic tumors. Twelve miRNAs were differentially expressed between non-neoplastic and non-metastatic MECs. MEC analysis of non-neoplastic and lymph node metastases demonstrated that 10 miRNAs were differentially expressed. In non-neoplastic versus distant metastatic MECs, three miRNAs were differentially expressed: one downregulated and two upregulated. By comparing non-metastatic MECs with lymph node metastatic MECs, we identified 17 upregulated miRNAs. Considering non-metastatic MECs versus distant metastatic MECs, two miRNAs were upregulated. One miRNA was differentially expressed between lymph node metastatic and distant metastatic MECs. Our findings indicated that miRNA profiles may serve as valuable biomarkers for distinguishing the metastatic potential of salivary MECs, warranting further investigation to validate their utility in clinical practice.
黏液表皮样癌（MEC）是唾液腺最常见的恶性肿瘤。高达80%的高级别肿瘤会发生转移扩散；然而，这一过程背后的机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。对人类癌症进行的大规模微小RNA（miRNA）表达谱研究表明，miRNA失调常与多种癌症类型相关。本研究旨在调查转移性和非转移性MEC的miRNA谱。我们使用实时逆转录聚合酶链反应（qPCR）分析了4个非转移性MEC、3个有淋巴结转移的MEC、3个有远处转移的MEC以及2个人类非肿瘤性唾液腺中377种miRNA的表达。为了鉴定差异表达的miRNA，使用层次聚类分析进行了生物信息学分析。miRNA谱能够区分非肿瘤性和肿瘤样本，以及转移性和非转移性肿瘤。非肿瘤性和非转移性MEC之间有12种miRNA差异表达。非肿瘤性和淋巴结转移的MEC分析表明有10种miRNA差异表达。在非肿瘤性与远处转移性MEC中，有3种miRNA差异表达：1种下调，2种上调。通过比较非转移性MEC与淋巴结转移性MEC，我们鉴定出17种上调的miRNA。考虑非转移性MEC与远处转移性MEC，有2种miRNA上调。在淋巴结转移性和远处转移性MEC之间有1种miRNA差异表达。我们的研究结果表明，miRNA谱可能作为区分唾液MEC转移潜能的有价值生物标志物，值得进一步研究以验证其在临床实践中的实用性。
