Modern pathology : an official journal of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc
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Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is typically characterized by a high incidence of local recurrences. It has been extensively shown that mucosa from head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients carries both genetic and gene expression alterations, which are mostly attributable to major etiologic agents of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. We previously identified a signature of microRNAs (miRNAs) whose high expression in tumors is predictive of recurrence. ⋯ The predictive power of the miRNA signature increased when using the expression levels derived from both the peritumoral and the tumoral tissues. The expression signal of the miRNAs composing the predictive signature correlated with the transcriptional levels of genes mostly associated with proliferation. Our results show that expression of miRNAs in tumor-surrounding mucosa may strongly contribute to the identification of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients at high risk of local recurrence.