Molecolar biomarkers in potentially malignant oral lesions: preliminary genomic research

Objective: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the sixth most frequently occurring cancer worldwide, with a high death rate. Same OSCCs are preceded by oral premalignant lesions (OPLs), which have a greater-than-normal risk of neoplastic transformations. Unfortunately, while the majority of OPLs patients is cured by surgery, 1.58-27.27% of the patients will still experience carcinogenic changes. Significant problems encountered in the clinical management of OPLs patients include the inability to accurately predict which patients will develop OSCC and can be selected for more rigorous treatment and follow-up. However, to date there are no widely accepted sensitive and specific biomarkers for malignant behavior of the oral cavity lesions. The aim of the present research is to contribute to the development of reliable investigations for early detection of OPLs with malignant evolution. Method: In recent years, innovative high throughput approaches have emerged as a means of rapidly discovering genomic aberrations associated with carcinogenesis. In the present study, by Comparative Genomic Hybridization array (aCGH) technology we performed a genome-wide based analysis of surgical resection specimens from different grade OPLs and OSCC. Result: The comparison of genomic profiles and integration of microarray data with clinicopathological features allowed to identify the most commonly altered cancer-related genes as well as novel genomic alteration of chromosomal regions involved in the tumorigenesis of OSCC. Conclusion: This approach demonstrated the ability of high-resolution aCGH to identify candidate genes that may be used as effective predictors for OPLs progression likelihood.