Identification of Critical miRNAs miR-4652 and miR-1304 as Novel Diagnostic Markers for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma - Original Article

Q: Why is early detection important in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)?

OSCC is characterized by frequent recurrence and unclear etiology. Early detection is needed to improve therapeutic outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

Q: How were miR-1304 and miR-4652 evaluated in this study?

TargetScan was used for gene interaction prediction, and qRT-PCR measured C-Myc and miR-1304-3p and miR-4652-5p in 30 paired OSCC and adjacent normal tissue samples.

Q: What diagnostic performance did ROC analysis show for these biomarkers?

ROC curves indicated strong diagnostic potential, with AUC values of 0.99 for C-Myc and hsa-miR-1304, and 0.95 for hsa-miR-4652.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) shows frequent recurrence and an unclear etiology, creating a strong need for early detection to improve outcomes and reduce costs. This study evaluates miR-1304 and miR-4652 expression in OSCC and examines their prognostic relevance as predictive biomarkers for progression and survival. TargetScan guided interaction predictions, while C-Myc, miR-1304-3p, and miR-4652-5p were measured by qRT-PCR in 30 matched OSCC and adjacent normal tissues, followed by ROC assessment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Cancer Reports ORIGINAL ARTICLE OPEN ACCESS Identification of Critical miRNAs miR-4652 and miR-1304 as Novel Diagnostic Markers for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Sara Bagheri Farahani1 | Ehsan Keramati1 | Marziyeh Etesami2,3 | Faranak Jamshidian1 1Department of Biology, ET.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran | 2Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran | 3Department of Genetics, TeMS.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Correspondence: Faranak Jamshidian ([faranak.jamshidian@gmail.com](faranak.jamshidian@gmail.com); [faranak.jamshidian@iau.ir](faranak.jamshidian@iau.ir)) Received: 26 July 2025 | Revised: 20 March 2026 | Accepted: 13 April 2026 Keywords: C-Myc | miR-1304 | miR-4652 | oral squamous cell carcinoma ABSTRACT Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is marked by frequent recurrence rates and an unclear etiology, underscoring the critical need for early detection to improve therapeutic outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key regulators of oral carcinogenesis by modulating gene expression at the posttranscriptional level and influencing various aspects of cellular physiology. Objective: This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the prognostic significance of miR-1304 and miR-4652 expression levels in patients with OSCC, and to explore their potential as predictive biomarkers for disease progression and patient survival. Methods: TargetScan was used to predict potential gene interactions of the microRNAs. Subsequently, the expression levels of CMyc and the microRNAs miR-1304-3p and miR-4652-5p were evaluated in 30 pairs of OSCC and adjacent normal tissue samples. qRT-PCR analyses were performed to compare the expression of these molecules between tumor and normal tissues. Additionally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to assess the potential diagnostic value of these microRNAs in OSCC. Result: The expression levels of miR-1304, miR-4652, and C-Myc were significantly higher in OSCC tissues compared to their matched adjacent non-tumor tissues (p < 0.0001) . Notably, high C-Myc expression was significantly correlated with both tumor grade (p = 0.003) and tumor stage (p = 0.005) . ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the areas under the curve (AUCs) for CMyc, hsa-miR-1304, and hsa-miR-4652 were 0.99, 0.99, and 0.95, respectively (p < 0.0001), indicating strong diagnostic potential. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the upregulation of miR-1304 and miR-4652 could be used as biomarkers in OSCC. However, more studies with large samples are necessary. 1 | Introduction Tumors in the head and neck region represent approximately 5% of all tumors, with nearly half originating specifically in the oral cavity [1]. Among these, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) accounts for nearly 90% of cases and remains the most common malignancy of the oral cavity, with over 500 000 new cases diagnosed worldwide each year [2, 3] . Several symptoms | Abbreviations: ANOVA, Analysis of variance; AUC, Area under the curve; cDNA, Complementary DNA; CI, Confidence interval; DAVID, Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery; DFS, Disease-free survival; GO, Gene Ontology; KEGG, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes; lncRNA, Long noncoding RNA; miRNAs, microRNAs; ncRNA, noncoding RNA; NPCs, Neural progenitor cells; NSCLC, Non-small cell lung cancer; OSCC, Oral squamous cell carcinoma; qRT–PCR, quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction; ROC, Receiver operating characteristic; SNP, Single-nucleotide polymorphism. | | --- | | This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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FAQs

Why is early detection important in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)?

OSCC is characterized by frequent recurrence and unclear etiology. Early detection is needed to improve therapeutic outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.

How were miR-1304 and miR-4652 evaluated in this study?

TargetScan was used for gene interaction prediction, and qRT-PCR measured C-Myc and miR-1304-3p and miR-4652-5p in 30 paired OSCC and adjacent normal tissue samples.

What diagnostic performance did ROC analysis show for these biomarkers?

ROC curves indicated strong diagnostic potential, with AUC values of 0.99 for C-Myc and hsa-miR-1304, and 0.95 for hsa-miR-4652.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai