Identification of Prognosis Associated microRNAs in HNSCC Subtypes Based on TCGA Dataset

Background and Objectives: Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) includes cancers from the oral cavity, larynx, and oropharynx and is the sixth-most common cancer worldwide. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs for which altered expression has been demonstrated in pathological processes, such as cancer. The objective of our study was to evaluate the different expression profile in HNSCC subtypes and the prognostic value that one or several miRNAs may have. Materials and Methods: Data from The Cancer Genome Atlas Program-Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (TCGA-HNSCC) patients were collected. Differential expression analysis was conducted by edge R-powered TCGAbiolinks R package specific function. Enrichment analysis was developed with Diana Tool miRPath 3.0. Kaplan-Meier survival estimators were used, followed by log-rank tests to compute significance. Results: A total of 127 miRNAs were identified with differential expression level in HNSCC; 48 of them were site-specific and, surprisingly, only miR-383 showed a similar deregulation in all locations studied (tonsil, mouth, floor of mouth, cheek mucosa, lip, tongue, and base of tongue). The most probable affected pathways based on miRNAs interaction levels were protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, proteoglycans in cancer (p < 0.01), Hippo signaling pathway (p < 0.01), and Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signaling pathway (p < 0.01). The survival analysis highlighted 38 differentially expressed miRNAs as prognostic biomarkers. The miRNAs with a greater association between poor prognosis and altered expression (p < 0.001) were miR-137, miR-125b-2, miR-26c, and miR-1304. Conclusions: In this study we have determined miR-137, miR-125b-2, miR-26c, and miR-1304 as novel powerful prognosis biomarkers. Furthermore, we have depicted the miRNAs expression patterns in tumor patients compared with normal subjects using the TCGA-HNSCC cohort.