2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Identification of Metastasis-specific miRNAs and Establishment of Diagnostic Methods Focusing on Cancer Stem Cells and Blood of Patients with Oral Cancer Metastasis

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	18K09745
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 57060:Surgical dentistry-related
Research Institution	The University of Tokushima
Principal Investigator	TAKAMARU Natsumi 徳島大学, 病院, 講師 (40513031)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	宮本洋二徳島大学, 大学院医歯薬学研究部(歯学域), 教授 (20200214) 玉谷哲也徳島大学, 大学院医歯薬学研究部(歯学域), 非常勤講師 (30274236) 中川貴之広島大学, 病院(歯), 助教 (30456230) 大江剛徳島大学, 大学院医歯薬学研究部(歯学域), 徳島大学専門研究員 (60432762) 真野隆充徳島大学, 大学院医歯薬学研究部(歯学域), 徳島大学専門研究員 (80325125) 栗尾奈愛徳島大学, 病院, 講師 (80622141) 工藤景子徳島大学, 病院, 講師 (70380029)
Project Period (FY)	2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
Keywords	口腔癌 / がん幹細胞 / 転移 / miRMA
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Metastasis is the largest prognostic determinant of oral cancer. Prediction of metastasis and development of early diagnosis are necessary in order to improve the prognosis. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs), which can be detected from a small amount of blood, have been attracting attention as an early diagnostic method for cancer, but there have been few reports of miRNAs specific to metastasis in oral cancer. Therefore, we searched for metastasis-specific miRNAs by (1) focusing on cancer stem cells and (2) using the blood of oral cancer patients. In (1), we were able to select ALDH1 and SOX2 as cancer stem cell markers involved in metastasis of oral cancer, but we were unable to select metastasis-related miRNAs in the strains overexpressing these markers. In (2), three kinds of miRNAs related to metastasis were selected, and these were considered to be metastasis-specific miRNAs.
Free Research Field	口腔外科学分野
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	口腔癌の最も大きい予後決定因子は転移である．予後を改善するためには，転移の予測，早期診断法の開発が必要である．最近，癌の早期診断法として少量の血液から検出可能なmiRNAが着目されているが、口腔癌では，転移に特異的なmiRNAの報告は殆どない．本研究において、口腔癌の転移に関連するmiRNAが同定されたことで、患者の血液を利用し、術前もしくは原発巣の術後に転移の可能性を予測することが可能となり、予防的治療の必要性や術後治療の必要性などさらに個別設定することができ、生命予後の改善に一翼を担うことができると考える。