Objectives: To gather preliminary data concerning the feasibility of using seven salivary mRNAs-IL-8; IL-1β; dual specificity phosphatase 1 (DUSP1); H3 histone family 3A (H3F3A); ornithin decarboxylase antizyme 1 (OAZ1); S100 calcium-binding protein P (S100P); and spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase 1 (SAT1)-for detecting development of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in oral lichen planus (OLP) patients and OSCC patients whose disease was in remission.
Materials and methods: Saliva samples were collected from five study groups (25 subjects/group): newly diagnosed OSCC, OSCC-in-remission, disease-active OLP, disease-inactive OLP, and normal controls. The salivary mRNA levels were determined by a pre-amplification RT-qPCR approach with nested gene-specific primers. Mean fold changes between each pair of study groups were analyzed by the Mann-Whitney U test.
Results: Salivary levels of OAZ1, S100P, and DUSP1 mRNAs were significantly higher in newly diagnosed OSCC patients, compared to: (1) normal controls (p = 0.003; p = 0.003; and p < 0.001, respectively); (2) OSCC-in-remission (p < 0.001; p = 0.001; and p < 0.001, respectively); (3) disease-active OLP (p < 0.001; p = 0.016; and p < 0.001, respectively); and (4) disease-inactive OLP (p = 0.043; p < 0.001; and p < 0.001, respectively). No significant differences were found in the levels of salivary IL-8, IL-1β, H3F3A, and SAT1 mRNAs between newly diagnosed OSCC patients and the normal controls (p = 0.093, 0.327, 0.764, and 0.560, respectively).
Conclusion: Salivary OAZ1, S100P, and DUSP1 mRNAs are candidate biomarkers for detecting OSCC development in OSCC patients in remission and in OLP patients.
Clinical relevance: The results of this study serve as the basis for a further large-scale study which may lead to a non-invasive screening method for early detection of OSCC.