BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common cancers in the head and neck squamous cell cancer group. The increasing frequency of oral carcinomas and their late-stage appearance is a major worldwide health concern. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) appear to play an important role in cancer growth and progression, according to growing data, whereas no information is available regarding miR-7113-3p and miR-6721-5p involvement in OSCC. In this article, the expression of MAP2K1, miR-7113-3p, and miR-6721-5p was examined for possible bio-logical functions in the advancement of oral squamous cell carcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used quantitative real-time PCR (to examine the mRNA expression of MAP2K1, miR-7113-3p, and miR-6721-5p in fresh frozen OSCC tissues and adjacent normal fresh frozen tissues from 30 patients, and we investigated their relationship with clinical parameters. RESULTS: MAP2K1 expression was found to be dramatically increased in tumor tissues than in normal tissues, whereas miR7113-3p and miR-6721-5p expression was significantly decreased. Furthermore, a statistical correlation of P = 0.04 was also observed between increased MAP2K1 expression and perineural invasion. Additionally, we noted that the downregulation of miR-7113-3p appears to correlate positively with overexpression of MAP2K1 (P = 0.0218), and a negative correlation was observed between downregulation of miR-6721-5p and overexpression of MAP2K1 (P = 0.7771). CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, miR-7113-3p and miR-6721-5p might be prospective bio-markers for OSCC patients, and could be utilized to detect OSCC at an early stage for future dia-gnosis. MAP2K1 overexpression has been linked to the development of OSCC and perineural invasion.

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