Clinical significance of long non-coding RNA MIR155HG genetic variants and susceptibility to oral cancer

Oral cancer is a malignant disease with a notably high incidence rate in Taiwan. Recent reports have revealed that MIR155HG polymorphisms play a crucial role in the development of tumorigenesis in human cancers. The objective of this study was to investigate the role of MIR155HG polymorphisms in susceptibility to oral cancer among individuals in the Taiwanese Han population. In this study, we recruited 1316 oral cancer patients and controls to investigate the allelic discrimination of MIR155HG polymorphisms. Genotyping was performed using a TaqMan allelic discrimination test. The association of MIR155HG polymorphism rs1893650 with oral cancer susceptibility was found to be significant, unlike rs928883, rs767649, rs72014506, and rs4143370. Moreover, when compared to the homozygous TT genotype, the C alleles of rs1893650 polymorphism showed a significant correlation with cell differentiation grade in oral cancer patients (p = 0.019). Additionally, in oral cancer patients who chew betel quid, the C alleles of the rs1893650 polymorphism was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and cell differentiation grade compared to those with the homozygous TT genotype. It was concluded that the rs1893650 polymorphism significantly increased the likelihood of developing oral cancer. Further large-scale studies involving diverse ethnic populations and clinicopathological characteristics are required to confirm these results. This research paves the way for new approaches in the detection and diagnosis of oral cancer, enabling early prevention of this disease.