Serum miR-483-5p: a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Deregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is essential to tumor development, and serum miRNA profiles have been reported in several cancers. However, the serum miRNA profile in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remained unclear. The present study aimed to explore abnormal miRNA profile in sera samples from OSCC patients and the association of miR-483-5p with patient prognosis. Microarray analysis was performed in sera from OSCC patients versus healthy controls. miR-483-5p expression was measured by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and correlated to clinicopathological characteristics of OSCC patients. The prognostic significance was then evaluated with a Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank tests, using a Cox proportional hazard model. According to microRNA array, 16 miRNAs were upregulated and 10 were downregulated in OSCC patient sera. miR-483-5p expression was significantly increased in OSCC patients (3.23-fold, p < 0.01), and this was significantly correlated with tumor nodal metastasis (TNM) stage and lymph nodal metastases (p < 0.01, p < 0.01). For predicting OSCC, receiver operating characteristic (ROC)/area under the curve (AUC) analysis confirmed a AUC of 0.85 (sensitivity of 0.853 and specificity of 0.746). OSCC patients with high serum miR-483-5p had lower survival than those with low expression, and multivariate analyses for overall survival revealed that high serum miR-483-5p expression was an independent prognostic factor for OSCC (HR = 2.32, 95 %CI 1.20-4.48). miR-483-5p expression increased in OSCC patient sera, and this may be a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for OSCC.