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Circulating microRNAs modulating glycolysis as non-invasive prognostic biomarkers of HNSCC

  • Head and Neck
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European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

The identification of prognostic non-invasive biomarkers is a priority for cancer patients’ care. Circulating microRNA (miRNAs) have been described in numerous human malignancies as diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic cancer biomarkers. The aim of our study was to analyze the expression profile of a set of miRNAs, involved in the modulation of the glycolytic pathway, as prognostic factors in human head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC).

Methods

Serum samples of 54 patients with untreated HNSCC were obtained at the time of diagnosis. The prognostic value of circulating miR-26b, miR-124, miR-155 and miR-375 was evaluated towards disease-free survival.

Results

We found that there were optimal miRNAs cut-off values for lower risk of recurrence in HNSCC patients. Kaplan–Meier curves showed that higher levels of miR-26b and lower levels of miR-155 were associated with better disease-free survival rates. In the multivariate analysis, patients with serum miR-26b > 0.062 and miR-155 < 0.159 presented more than 2.9 times lower risk of poor outcome.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that two miRNAs that modulate the glycolytic pathway, miR-26b and miR-155, are independently associated with the risk of recurrence in patients with HNSCC. The overall results in this study supports the evidence that the glucose homeostasis may be a target to improve the outcomes for patients with HNSCC.

Level of evidence

Individual retrospective cohort study (2b).

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Funding

This work was supported by a grant from Plan Estatal de I + D + I of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS PI15/02047 and FIS PI18/0844 to FX A-J and IV, and FIS PI19/01661 to XL). Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), A Way to Build Europe. XT is a Serra-Húnter fellow. Co-financed by Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer by the Project LAB AECC 2018-LABAE18025AVIL.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Isabel Vilaseca and Ximena Terra contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Otorhinolaryngology Head-Neck Surgery Department, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS Universitat de Barcelona, Villarroel 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain

    Francesc Xavier Avilés-Jurado & Isabel Vilaseca

  2. Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR), Generalitat de Catalunya, 2017-SGR-01581, Barcelona, Spain

    Francesc Xavier Avilés-Jurado & Isabel Vilaseca

  3. Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC), Madrid, Spain

    Francesc Xavier Avilés-Jurado, Isabel Vilaseca & Ximena Terra

  4. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas (CIBERDEM), Madrid, Spain

    Francesc Xavier Avilés-Jurado & Ester Benaiges

  5. Molecular Oncology and Embryology Laboratory, Human Anatomy Unit, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain

    Carmen Muñoz

  6. Doctoral Programme in Biomedicine, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain

    Carla Meler

  7. Otorhinolaryngology Department, Hospital Universitari de Tarragona Joan XXIII, Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain

    Carla Meler & Joan Carles Flores

  8. Oncology Department, Intsitut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Hospital Universitari Sant Joan de Reus, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain

    Josep Gumà

  9. Endocrinology and Nutrition Department, Hospital Universitari de Tarragona Joan XXIII, Insitut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain

    Ester Benaiges

  10. Biochemistry Department, Hospital de Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Josefina Mora

  11. Genomics of Complex Diseases, Research Institute Hospital Sant Pau, IIB Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain

    Mercedes Camacho

  12. Otorhinolaryngology Head-Neck Surgery Department, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and Networking Research Center on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN, MICINN, ISCIII), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Xavier León

  13. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBER-Res), Madrid, Spain

    Isabel Vilaseca

  14. MoBioFood Research Group, Biochemistry and Biotechnology Department, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain

    Ximena Terra

Authors
  1. Francesc Xavier Avilés-Jurado
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  2. Carmen Muñoz
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  9. Xavier León
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Francesc Xavier Avilés-Jurado or Carla Meler.

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Avilés-Jurado, F.X., Muñoz, C., Meler, C. et al. Circulating microRNAs modulating glycolysis as non-invasive prognostic biomarkers of HNSCC. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 278, 1585–1594 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-020-06240-z

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