Investigação da associação entre os mirnas 10a, 17, 29c e 31 e a expressão de il-6 e stat3 em lesões orais potencialmente malignas, no câncer bucal e campo de cancerização

Abstract

Oral cavity malignant neoplasms are a serious public health problem in Brazil and in the world. The most common histologic subtype in the mouth are squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Often, before the onset of SCC, there are clinical and histological changes with a greater potential for malignant transformation, called potentially malignant disorders (PMD). Multiple molecular factors may contribute to the development of this neoplasms. Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription-3 (STAT3) is a cytokine-activated signal transducer, which may be directly active in neoplastic. High levels of IL-6, a possible STAT3 activator, have been associated with poor prognosis in SCC. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of RNAs that act as gene-regulator in the post-transcriptional phase through the degradation or silencing of messenger RNAs. The present study aimed to quantify microRNAs miR-10a, miR-17, miR-29c and miR-31 in the field effect area of oral dysplasia and SCC. Additionally, it is intended to evaluate the expression of IL-6 and STAT3 in these lesions. For this, samples of 47 SCC, 21 PMD and 21 controls were collected. In the patients with SCC or PMD, in addition to the lesion area, a normal mucosa sample was collected, 1 cm away from the lesion. miRNAs were analyzed by real-time PCR and STAT3 and IL-6 by immunohistochemistry. The SCC sample was, most of them, moderately differentiated (91.5%), with growth in nets (73%) and non-keratinizing (52.6%). Dysplasia presented, more frequently, mild (52%), and 42.8% of them showed intense subepithelial inflammation. The mean age of the patients in the three groups was 52 ± 21 years. Males were predominant in the SCC group (67.3%) and female in DPM (57.1%). The most frequent localization site for both groups was tongue. Hyperexpression of all studied miRNAs were observed in SCC and PMD, as well as in the perilesional regions. Evaluating SCC, all the miRNAs studied were correlated with each other, while in SCC perilesion increase of miR-31 was accompanied by elevation of miR-17 levels, as well as hyperexpression of miR-29c was accompanied by miR-10a increase. There was an increase of miR-17 and miR-29c in SCC compared to PMD. In PMD, the increase of miR-10a was accompanied by an increase of miR-17 and miR-29c; a similar situation occurred between miR-31 and miR-17. In PMD perilesion, miR-10a and miR-29c presented positive correlation. High expression of IL-6 was obtained in 100% of the SCC and PMD samples. STAT3 presented positivity for 84.6% of SCC samples and 88.2% of DPM samples. Positive correlation between miR-29c and miR-10a was found in SCC, in dysplasias and perilesional areas, indicating that hyperexpression of these microRNAs is an early event in the oral carcinogenesis.