Novel DNA methylation biomarkers for early diagnosis of oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC).

Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) is the most common malignancy type among males across the world. However, analysis of molecular markers could be useful in detecting the early-stage OTSCC, which would allow optimal clinical treatments and prolong the survival rate of patients consequently. The study has the objective of detecting the role of salivary biomarkers based on gene promoter hypermethylation. Sample data from 45 OTSCC and normal groups were analyzed to exhibit the methylation levels of salivary biomarkers (TRH, FHIT, MGMT, p16, and RASSF1A). The specificity and sensitivity analysis of methylation biomarkers was conducted in addition to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for both early-stage and advanced OTSCC stages. Quantitative data findings showed the perfect sensitivity and specificity for TRH, MGMT, p16, and RASSF1A with 100%, and > 90%, respectively. In addition, the results indicated an inefficient area under curves (> 0.7) for these biomarkers to detect the OTSCC. There were no significant differences observed between TRH and FHIT and p16 and MGMT based on the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The methylation statuses of genes TRH, RASSF1A, p16, and MGMT might become utilized as predictive biomarkers for clinical application in early diagnosis of OTSCC and noninvasive oral cancer screening.