Potential markers of tongue tumor progression selected by cDNA microarray

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Molecular Biology
• Genetics

Background:

• Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity has a poor prognosis, with metastasis being the primary cause of mortality.
• Predicting the progression of pre-malignant lesions to oral SCC remains challenging with current diagnostic methods.
• Identifying molecular markers is crucial for understanding and managing oral SCC development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define the genetic expression profile associated with tongue tumor progression.
• To identify potential biomarkers for distinguishing pre-malignant lesions from metastatic SCC.
• To explore genes involved in oral SCC development and metastasis.

Main Methods:

• Utilized cDNA microarray analysis of 19.2K clones to compare gene expression profiles.
• Analyzed gene expression in normal tissues, dysplasias (DS), tumors without metastasis (TWM), and metastasizing SCCs (MT).
• Employed hierarchical clustering, Significance Analysis of Microarray (SAM), and Gene Ontology (FatiGo) for data analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified 105 differentially expressed genes between DS and TWM, and 570 between TWM and MT (FDR < 0.01).
• Further refined to 33 genes differentially expressed in TWM vs. DS, and 155 in MT vs. TWM.
• Detected potential markers for progression (e.g., BAG4, PAX3, CCNI) and metastasis (e.g., TSPAN-2, SNTA1, integrin alpha 7, ADAMTS2, cathepsin O).
• Observed under-expression of apoptosis-related genes (PDCD4, CASP4) in tumor progression.

Conclusions:

• Several genes show differential expression patterns correlating with tongue SCC progression.
• These identified genes hold potential as biomarkers for improved classification of pre-malignant lesions and oral SCC.
• The findings contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying oral cancer development and metastasis.