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Updated: Sep 7, 2026
Establishment of a Clinic-based Biorepository
Published on: May 29, 2017
Differential expression of hsa-miR-21-5p and hsa-miR-26a-5p in oral squamous cell carcinoma: A Single Centre pilot
Sriram Kaliamoorthy1, Ganesan Vinitha2, Kokila Manickam2
1Department of Dentistry, Vinayaka Mission's Medical College and Hospital, Vinayaka Missions Research Foundation (Deemed to be University), Karaikal, 609609, Pondicherry, India. ksrirammds@gmail.com.
Purpose:
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a leading cause of cancer mortality, and reliable molecular markers are needed, particularly in resource-limited settings. This pilot study evaluated the expression of two microRNAs, hsa-miR-21-5p and hsa-miR-26a-5p, in OSCC tissue compared with normal oral tissue, as a hypothesis-generating step toward biomarker development.
Methods:
In this single-centre case-control pilot study, 16 histopathologically confirmed OSCC tissues and 16 histologically normal control tissues were analysed. Total RNA was extracted and reverse-transcribed, and hsa-miR-21-5p and hsa-miR-26a-5p were quantified by qRT-PCR using U6 snRNA as reference gene and the 2^-ΔΔCt method. Group differences were assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test with Hodges-Lehmann median differences, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis with bootstrap and leave-one-out internal validation.
Results:
hsa-miR-26a-5p was consistently upregulated in OSCC (Hodges-Lehmann ΔCt difference 3.59, 95% CI 3.02-4.19; p < 0.001) and completely separated OSCC from controls (AUC 1.000). hsa-miR-21-5p showed a smaller, inconsistent difference (1.21, 95% CI 0.26-1.99; p = 0.012; AUC 0.758). Neither marker was associated with tumour stage, grade, age, or sex. As the cohort comprised only advanced (Stage III-IV) disease within a single sample set, this separation is reported descriptively rather than as validated diagnostic accuracy.
Conclusion:
hsa-miR-26a-5p is robustly overexpressed in advanced OSCC and warrants validation in larger, independent, stage-diverse cohorts before any diagnostic application, which would require validation is considered.
