Unravelling the roles of Autophagy in OSCC: A renewed perspective from mechanisms to potential applications

Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is associated with a low survival rate and a high disability rate, making it a serious health burden, particularly in Southeast Asian countries. Therefore, improvements in the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis prediction of OSCC are highly warranted. Autophagy has a significant impact on cancer development. Studies on autophagy in various human cancers have made outstanding contributions; however, the relationship between autophagy and OSCC remains to be explored. This review highlights the roles of autophagy in OSCC and discusses the relationship between autophagy and Epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Considering the lack of OSCC biomarkers, we focus on the studies involving OSCC-related bioinformatics analysis and molecular targets. Based on some classical targets, we summarize several key autophagy-related biomarkers with a considerable potential for clinical application, which may become the hotspot of OSCC research. In conclusion, we elaborate on the interrelationship between autophagy and OSCC and highlight the shortcomings of current studies to provide insights into the potential clinical strategies.

Keywords: autophagy; biomarker; diagnosis; epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT); oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC); prognosis; treatment.

FIGURE 1

MiRNAs can directly interact with autophagy-related genes. At the same time, lncRNAs and circRNAs act as miRNA sponge through the mechanism of competitive endogenous RNAs, thus affecting the expression of miRNA target genes. Carcinogenic lncRNAs and circRNAs resist apoptosis and promote malignancy in OSCC cells by promoting carcinogenic autophagy and inhibiting tumor suppressive autophagy.