Evaluation of novel MicroRNA profile-21 and 191 in oral leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma in comparison with healthy tissues – A cross-sectional study

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify whether microRNA (miR)-21 and miR-191 could be used as a potential biomarker in patients diagnosed with oral leukoplakia (OL) and oral squamous cell carcinoma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of miR-21 and miR-191 in patients diagnosed with OL and oral squamous cell carcinoma. Materials and Methods: Fifteen patients each diagnosed with OL and oral squamous cell carcinoma and 15 healthy controls were recruited for the study. The miR was extracted from the tissue samples for the evaluation of miR-21 and miR-191 using RT-qPCR. Results: The miR-21 (P = 0.0005) and miR-191 (P = 0.0094) were significantly expressed in oral squamous cell carcinoma in comparison with healthy tissues. The expression of miR-191 was also significantly overexpressed (P = 0.0460) in OL in comparison with healthy tissues. Conclusion: The profile miR-21 and miR-191 could be used as a novel biomarker for oral squamous cell carcinoma and miR-191 could be used as a biomarker for OL.