Circulating miRNAs from blood, plasma or serum as promising clinical biomarkers in oral squamous cell carcinoma: A systematic review of current findings

The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize current findings on the use of circulating miRNAs from blood, serum and plasma as cancer biomarkers in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Studies were gathered after searching four different electronic databases: PUBMED, SCOPUS, Cochrane Library and Web of Science. Additional search was carried out through cross check on bibliography of selected articles. After the selection process made by two of the authors, 16 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Results showed that circulating miRNAs from blood, serum or plasma represent promising candidates as cancer biomarkers in patients suffering from oral cancer. The possibility to predict recurrences and metastases through follow-up quantification of candidate miRNAs represents another potential feature to be addressed in future studies. However, methodological standardization and uniform sampling is needed to increase the power and accuracy of results.