Serum Exosomal miR-941 as a promising Oncogenic Biomarker for Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

At present, no blood-based biomarkers have been used in clinical practice for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Increasing evidence suggests that circulating exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) may serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers for various cancers. This study aims to identify and evaluate serum exosomal miRNAs for LSCC diagnosis. The ExoQuick solution (EQ), which provides a high-yield and is a highly efficient exosome isolation method, was selected to isolate serum exosomes in the current study. In LSCC samples, exosome concentrations were higher than in healthy control (HC) samples. RNA-seq analysis identified a total of 1608 miRNAs, with 34 upregulated and 41 downregulated in LSCC samples relative to HC samples. Furthermore, qRT-PCR showed that miR-941 is significantly upregulated in LSCC serum exosomes, with this same trend seen in LSCC tissues and cells. Moreover, when examining miR-941 in cell lines, miR-941 overexpression promoted proliferation and invasion, while miR-941 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and invasion. ROC curve analysis showed that miR-941 has an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.797 (95% CI = 0.676-0.918) for distinguishing LSCC patients from HCs. In conclusion, serum exosomal miR-941 may serve as a promising oncogenic biomarker for diagnosing LSCC, and has the potential as a therapeutic target.