Diagnostic potential of salivary miR-300 and miR-340-5p in oral cancer among Pakistani patients

Oral cancer is a significant global health concern, ranking as the sixth most common cancer worldwide. The metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is influenced by a combination of environmental, demographic, and genetic factors, including specific genes and miRNAs. Among demographic factors, age, socio-economic status, lifestyle, and pre-existing diseases play important roles, while genetic factors, such as the differential expression of miRNAs and their target genes, are critical in disease progression. Given their differential expression, miRNAs and their target genes hold potential as diagnostic biomarkers. This study aimed to detect and profile the expression of miRNAs and their target genes in the Pakistani population. We conducted a meta-analysis of 318 miRNAs and their differentially expressed target genes. From this pool, significant miRNAs and genes were identified through in silico functional enrichment, pathway, and network analyses. Our analyses highlighted a set of differentially expressed genes regulated by miR-300 and miR-340-5p. To further investigate the dysregulation of these target genes, network analysis was performed using Cytoscape. We then assessed the expression of miR-300, miR-340-5p, and their target genes ALB, CDH1, CDKN1A, and BCL2 in saliva samples from oral cancer patients and healthy controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic potential of these miRNAs, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated for each. Our expression and network analyses revealed that miR-300 and miR-340-5p were significantly downregulated in cancer patients. These results indicate that miR-300 and miR-340-5p possess strong diagnostic potential for oral cancer, with AUC values of 0.827 and 0.704, respectively. Overall, our findings demonstrate that miRNAs and their target genes exhibit robust discriminatory capacity, supporting their potential as biomarkers for oral cancer.