Biological role and clinical value of miR-99a-5p in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC): A bioinformatics-based study

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are confirmed to be tumor promoters or suppressors in multiple squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). miR-99a-5p has been demonstrated to be downregulated in cancerous tissues, but its functional role in head and neck SCC (HNSCC) and its mechanism of action have not been fully elucidated. Here, we studied the expression of miR-99a-5p in HNSCC and performed a clinical value assessment and then extracted mature expression data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and microarrays from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). Furthermore, biological analysis was constructed via online prediction tools. The results revealed that miR-99a-5p expression was markedly lower in HNSCC tissues than in normal tissues, which also showed significance in the prognosis of HNSCC. However, its diagnostic value could not be verified due to the lack of body fluid samples. Additionally, miR-99a-5p was expressed at higher levels in patients with low histological grade neoplasms than those with high histological grade neoplasms. The age of the patient might also be a possible clinical parameter affecting miR-99a-5p expression. Furthermore, miR-99a-5p significantly influenced HNSCC progression by regulating the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, in which the key target genes were upregulated in 519 HNSCC tissues compared to 44 normal tissues, as determined by the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA). In conclusion, our study may provide insights into the expression and mechanism of miR-99a-5p in HNSCC. Further studies are required to elucidate the role of miR-99a-5p and its potential clinical applications for HNSCC.