An integrative analysis to enumerate candidate genes for clinical use in oral cancer

Background: Oral cancer (OC) is the most pernicious sub-site of head and neck tumours with poor prognostic value that is largely ascribed to the lack of ideal biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This fact highlights an urgent need to identify biomarkers that can further aid in OC management. Aim: The aim of this study was to identify a gene panel with a maximum clinical utility for OC. Materials and Methods: Eight eligible datasets were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus Database, containing 320OC samples and 173 normal samples. The data were processed by GeneSpring software to reveal differentially expressed genes between OC tissues and normal tissues in eight individual experiments. Functional enrichment and network analysis were performed using PANTHER and STRING databases for concordant genes (fold change >10; P ≤ 0.05). The selected genes were cross-validated in the cancer genome atlas (TCGA), Oncomine, and KaplanMeier (KM) plotter databases. Results: Totally, 65 concordant genes were identified, including 37 up-regulated genes and 28 down-regulated genes. A 13-gene panel CXCL8, CXCL10, FN1, GBP1, IFIT3, ISG15, MMP1, MMP3, MMP10, OASL, SERPINE1, SPP1, and PLAU was elected from the lists of functionally enriched genes, hub genes, and genes that showed high alterations for mutation, copy number variation, and mRNA expression status in 'Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma patients (n = 279; TCGA, Nature 2015)'. Further, validation in Oncomine database demonstrated significant over-expression of all elected genes in OC patients across multiple datasets. In addition, out of 13, six genes (CXCL8, CXCL10, FN1, PLAU, SERPINE1, and SPP1) showed significant association with the prognosis of Head and Neck cancer patients (n = 500) in the KM plotter database. Conclusions: Using an integrative analysis, our study investigated and validated a 13-gene panel for OC which can be used to improve current diagnostic, prognostic, and treatment approaches.