MicroRNAs as Biomarkers in Oral Cancer

Introduction: Oral cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer worldwide. It's associated with high mortality rates. For this reason, new tools for diagnostic and prognostic have been studied. MicroRNAs, which are deregulated in oral cancer, have recently gained significant attention due to its potential as biomarkers of early diagnosis and prognosis in this disease. Aims: Investigate the role of microRNAs in oral cancer, showing some of the most deregulated, as well their potential as biomarkers of early diagnosis and prognosis in this malignancy. Materials and methods: Research on PubMed/Medline electronic database, using the keywords "microRNA", "biomarkers" and "oral cancer" and the Boolean operator "AND". Inclusion criteria included studies with human samples, published in the last 10 years (2009-2019) and in English. Results: 255 studies were found and after reading the title and the abstract and 65 studies were selected for full-text analysis. 12 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Conclusions: It's possible to conclude that microRNAs are effective biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of oral cancer and can be a useful tool in clinical practice. Therefore, more studies and research are needed before their generalized use in the clinical field. Clinical implications: Dentists have a key role in early detection of oral malignant lesions and monitoring conditions with high risk of malignant transformation. Studies regarding miRs show positive perspectives for their use in clinical practice, for diagnosis and prognosis of OC and OPML. Therefore, clinicians should have knowledge about miRs and be aware of new tools based on these molecules. Keywords: microRNA, biomarkers, carcinogenesis, oral cancer, diagnostic and prognostic, oral squamous cells carcinoma