MALAT1 as a potential salivary biomarker in oral squamous cell carcinoma through targeting miRNA-124
Abstract
Objectives: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of the long non-coding RNA "MALAT1" measured in the saliva of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and assess the salivary expression of microRNA-124, which MALAT1 targets. Subjects and Methods: Forty subjects were collected in a consecutive pattern and allocated into two groups. Group A included 20 patients with OSCC, while Group B included 20 healthy subjects. Salivary expression of MALAT1 and miRNA-124 was evaluated in the two study groups using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and correlated with histopathological examination of OSCC subjects. Results: OSCC yielded a statistically significant higher expression of MALAT1 than healthy controls and a lower expression of miRNA-124 in OSCC than controls. There is a statistically significant inverse relationship between salivary MALAT1 and miRNA-124. Moreover, there is a statistically significant difference in the MALAT1 expression in saliva samples from metastatic cases compared to non-metastatic cases, as well as in patients with lymph node involvement compared to those without involvement. At a cut-off value of 2.24, salivary MALAT1 exhibited 95% sensitivity and 90% specificity in differentiating OSCC from healthy subjects. Conclusion: Salivary MALAT1 acts as a sponge for miRNA-124 and could be a potential salivary biomarker for OSCC.