Genes involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in oral cancer: A systematic review

Carmen Vallina; Rosa María López-Pintor; José González-Serrano; Juan Carlos de Vicente; Gonzalo Hernández; Corina Lorz

doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2021.105310

Genes involved in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in oral cancer: A systematic review

Oral Oncol. 2021 Jun:117:105310. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2021.105310. Epub 2021 Apr 23.

Authors

Carmen Vallina¹, Rosa María López-Pintor², José González-Serrano³, Juan Carlos de Vicente⁴, Gonzalo Hernández⁵, Corina Lorz⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine and Dentistry, Oviedo University, Julián clavería s/n, 33006 Oviedo, Spain.
² ORALMED Research Group, Department of Dental Clinical Specialties, School of Dentistry, Complutense University, Plaza Ramón y Cajal s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: rmlopezp@ucm.es.
³ ORALMED Research Group, Department of Dental Clinical Specialties, School of Dentistry, Complutense University, Plaza Ramón y Cajal s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: jose.gser@gmail.com.
⁴ ORALMED Research Group, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Hospital Central Universitario de Asturias (HUCA), Carretera de Rubín s/n, 33011 Oviedo, Asturias, Spain. Electronic address: jvicente@uniovi.es.
⁵ ORALMED Research Group, Department of Dental Clinical Specialties, School of Dentistry, Complutense University, Plaza Ramón y Cajal s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: ghervall@odon.ucm.es.
⁶ Molecular Oncology Unit, Environmental and Technological Energy Research Center (CIEMAT), Avd. Complutense 40, 28040, Spain; Research Institute 12 de Octubre i+12, University Hospital 12 de Octubre, Ave Córdoba s/n, 28041, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Cáncer (CIBERONC), Ave Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: clorz@ciemat.es.

PMID: 33901766
DOI: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2021.105310

Abstract

Objective: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is considered the initial step in the invasion-metastasis cascade. The aim of this systematic review was to study the signature of genes involved in the EMT process in oral cancer (OC) confirmed by protein expression and its possible relationship with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) prognostic variables.

Materials and methods: A search of the scientific literature was carried out with no start date restriction until 17 September 2020 in the electronic databases Pubmed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Scopus, following specific eligibility criteria. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa tool.

Results: A total of 8 retrospective cohort studies were included, all of them performed in China and with low risk of bias. Overexpression of the genes HNRNPC, ITGA5, HMGA2 and SRSF3, and low expression of ALDH3A1 and ARID2 promote EMT in OC. The more advanced clinical stages of the TNM classification were significantly associated with overexpression of HNRNPC, ITGA5, HMGA2 and SRSF3, and low expression of ARID2.

Conclusions: HNRNPC, ITGA5, HMGA2, SRSF3, ALDH3A1 and ARID2 genes were associated with EMT process. Over- or under-expression of these genes is associated with worse stages of OSCC and/or worse prognosis of the tumor. Further studies on this topic are needed in different countries to be able to confirm these results, since the detection of these genes can help to know which tumors have a worse prognosis.

Keywords: Carcinoma; EMT cancer; Epithelial-mesenchymal transition; Genes; Oral cancer; Oral squamous cell.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / genetics
Humans
Mouth Neoplasms* / genetics
Mouth Neoplasms* / pathology
Retrospective Studies
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck* / genetics
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck* / pathology
Transcription Factors / metabolism

Substances

Transcription Factors