Evren Erkul1,2, Ismail Yilmaz3, Atila Gungor1, Onuralp Kurt4, Mustafa A Babayigit5. 1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. 2. Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A. 3. Department of Pathology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. 4. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Erzincan Military Hospital, Erzincan, Turkey. 5. Department of Public Health, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: We aimed to determine the microRNA-21 expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and assess the association between the disease and clinical characteristics of patients. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case-control study. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted from January 2005 to May 2011, in a tertiary hospital following tumor resection in 72 patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. We used formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas (study group) and adjacent nontumor tissues (control group) for microRNA-21 expressions, and we successfully extracted microRNAs detectable by real-time polymerase chain reaction. All patients were evaluated separately, and the study and control groups were compared. The study group was assessed in terms of localization, smoking, alcohol consumption, lymph node staging, tumor stage, overall survival, disease-free survival, perineural, and vascular invasion. RESULTS: All patients were male, and the average age of patients was 64.2 ± 10.3 years. MicroRNA-21 was upregulated in laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas compared to adjacent nontumor tissues (P = .005). However, the microRNA-21 did not differ significantly according to any clinicopathological features (P > .05). MicroRNA-21 has been found to be expressed at lower levels in early stage (stages 1 and 2) compared with advanced stage (stages 3 and 4), but this was not statistically significant (P = .455). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the microRNA-21 level may play an important role in diagnosis and serve as a potential biomarker; such measurement thus has clinical applications. However, any possible prognostic associations with microRNA-21 levels should be re-evaluated in future studies on laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma samples amenable to retrospective analysis. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: NA Laryngoscope, 2016 127:E62-E66, 2017.
OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: We aimed to determine the microRNA-21 expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and assess the association between the disease and clinical characteristics of patients. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective case-control study. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted from January 2005 to May 2011, in a tertiary hospital following tumor resection in 72 patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. We used formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas (study group) and adjacent nontumor tissues (control group) for microRNA-21 expressions, and we successfully extracted microRNAs detectable by real-time polymerase chain reaction. All patients were evaluated separately, and the study and control groups were compared. The study group was assessed in terms of localization, smoking, alcohol consumption, lymph node staging, tumor stage, overall survival, disease-free survival, perineural, and vascular invasion. RESULTS: All patients were male, and the average age of patients was 64.2 ± 10.3 years. MicroRNA-21 was upregulated in laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas compared to adjacent nontumor tissues (P = .005). However, the microRNA-21 did not differ significantly according to any clinicopathological features (P > .05). MicroRNA-21 has been found to be expressed at lower levels in early stage (stages 1 and 2) compared with advanced stage (stages 3 and 4), but this was not statistically significant (P = .455). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the microRNA-21 level may play an important role in diagnosis and serve as a potential biomarker; such measurement thus has clinical applications. However, any possible prognostic associations with microRNA-21 levels should be re-evaluated in future studies on laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma samples amenable to retrospective analysis. LEVELS OF EVIDENCE: NA Laryngoscope, 2016 127:E62-E66, 2017.