Deregulation of selected microRNAs in sinonasal carcinoma: Value of miR-21 as prognostic biomarker in sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Tumors occurring in the sinonasal area are characterized by unfavorable outcome due to difficult diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of the disease corresponding with the anatomic complexity of the area.

Methods: We used quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to compare relative expression of miR-21, miR-141, and miR-200c in 70 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples of sinonasal carcinoma tissue (majority of squamous cell carcinoma [SCC] samples) with 17 control samples of sinonasal tissue.

Results: Our data showed significant upregulation of miR-21 in sinonasal cancer tissue. Expression levels of miR-141 and miR-200c were below detectable levels in both sinonasal cancer samples and healthy tissue. Kaplan-Meier analysis with log-rank survival showed that patients with SCC with high expression of miR-21 (highest quartile) had impaired survival close to reaching statistical significance (P = .0630).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that miR-21 upregulation is involved in tumorigenesis of sinonasal carcinoma and that it is associated with poor prognosis. Thus, miR-21 could be used as a valuable prognostic biomarker.

Keywords: biomarker; head and neck cancer; miR-21; microRNA; sinonasal carcinoma.