tumour genomic and circulating microrna expression profiling in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients to predict post surgical recurrence risk a retrospective and prospective study

Abstract

Head and Neck squamous cell carcinoma ( HNSCC), the sixth most newlinecommon cancer worldwide, mainly comprises neoplasms of the oral cavity, newlinepharynx, larynx, paranasal synapses, nasal cavity and salivary glands. Oral newlinesquamous cell carcinoma ( OSCC ) is a significant component of HNSCC, newlineaccounting for about 90% of all oral malignancies, representing a significant newlineglobal burden with an estimated 300,373 cases per annum ( Gupta et al newline2016). According to Globocan 2018 report, ~ 120,000 new OSCC cases are newlinedetected yearly, ranking it the second most common cancer reported in India ( newlineBray et al 2018; Soenjomataram et al 2018 ). Over 72,000 deaths in India are newlineattributable to malignancies affecting the oral and maxillofacial region. newlineEpidemiologic studies worldwide have implicated tobacco usage, newlinealcohol consumption, and infection with viral agents, especially human newlinepapillomavirus ( HPV ), as the etiological factors contributing to the newlinedevelopment of OSCC ( Kreimer et al 2005; Mehanna et al 2010 ). In India, newlinethe widespread habit of smoking or grinding tobacco, and consuming alcohol, newlineaside from inadequate oral hygiene, poor diet and HPV infection, has newlinecontributed to the disproportionately more significant number of OSCC. newlineEven after the implication of prognosis therapies like visual inspection newlineand innovations in diagnosis and therapeutic strategies, late diagnosis has newlinebeen documented to be causal to the rapid increase in the number and poor newlineprognosis of OSCC ( Leemans et al 2011 ). Non-implementation of the newlinenational OSCC screening program in India due to the lack of conclusive and newlinespecific biomarkers for early detection and progression surveillance of OSCC newlinehas added to the late-stage diagnosis of OSCC ( D Souza and Kumar 2020 ). newlineEarly OSCC patients have been reported to have a favourable newlineprognosis, with 5-year survival rates of up to 80% ( van Lanschot et al 2020 ). newlineHowever, it is unfortunate that more than half of OSCC patients are diagnosed. newline