Higher Expression Levels of miR-1246 in Advanced Laryngeal Carcinoma Are Associated with Elevated Risk of Locoregional Metastasis

Abstract

Worldwide, laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is the second most common head and neck cancer (HNC). Advanced forms of LSCC, especially HPV-negative types, frequently involve locoregional lymph node metastasis, which are associated with treatment failure. Despite recent development and improvement in treatment protocols [1], still advanced LSCC is a global oncological burden, associated with challenges and complications. The study group included 60 cases of predominantly HPV-negative tumours with all patients having history of long-term smoking. We found that miR-1246 was significantly dysregulated in advanced LSCC – almost 72% of the patients in the study group showed overexpression of miR-1246 in tumour tissue above relative quantity of 2 (RQ > 2). Additionally, miR-1246 showed significant heterogeneity in expression levels between tumour depth and surface and moreover higher expression levels of the molecule correlated with higher chance of locoregional metastasis. In conclusion, we explored the expression levels of miR-1246 in advanced LSCC and adjacent normal tissue, revealing new tumour heterogeneity characteristic. We demonstrated potential association between miR-1246 expression levels and presence of locoregional lymph nodal metastasis.