# MICRORNA BIOMARKERS FOR OROPHARYNGEAL CANCER

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2020 · $450,262

## Abstract

Project Summary
Head and neck cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the United States, with an overall
survival rate of around 50%. Compared to other subsites of head and neck cancer, the
incidence of oropharyngeal cancer is increasing and has been intimately linked to human
papillomavirus (HPV). Most oropharyngeal cancer patients receive standard therapy. However,
clinical outcomes vary significantly and are difficult to predict. Thus, more robust prognostic
biomarkers are needed to accurately stratify patients for the risk of treatment failures.
 The long-term goal of this research is to develop clinical prognostic assays and
therapeutic agents for individualized oropharyngeal cancer treatment by focusing on
microRNAs. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of small non-coding RNA molecules that
collectively control the expression of thousands of protein-coding genes. miRNAs are
extensively involved in tumorigenesis and they have deregulated expression in human cancers.
Recent studies indicate that miRNAs are promising biomarkers and play critical regulatory roles
in many types of cancer. However, the prognostic and therapeutic values of miRNAs in
oropharyngeal cancer are poorly characterized to date. Our preliminary analysis has identified
six miRNAs that are predictive of oropharyngeal cancer outcome. Here, we propose to
significantly expand our preliminary study to identify new miRNA biomarkers by analyzing all
oropharynx-related miRNAs in a large number of oropharyngeal tumors. These miRNA
biomarkers will then be combined to build a robust model for significantly improved prognosis of
oropharyngeal cancer. Further, the therapeutic potential of selected prognostic miRNAs will be
evaluated by characterizing the roles of these miRNAs in cancer progression and treatment
response.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9940707
- **Project number:** 5R01DE026471-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Xiaowei Wang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $450,262
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-04-15 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9940707

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9940707, MICRORNA BIOMARKERS FOR OROPHARYNGEAL CANCER (5R01DE026471-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9940707. Licensed CC0.

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