TY - JOUR T1 - Salivary <em>CCL20</em> Level as a Biomarker for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma JF - Cancer Genomics - Proteomics JO - Cancer Genomics Proteomics SP - 103 LP - 112 DO - 10.21873/cgp.20245 VL - 18 IS - 2 AU - SEI UEDA AU - MITSUO GOTO AU - KENGO HASHIMOTO AU - SHOGO HASEGAWA AU - MASAHIKO IMAZAWA AU - MARICO TAKAHASHI AU - ICHIRO OH-IWA AU - KAZUO SHIMOZATO AU - TORU NAGAO AU - SHUJI NOMOTO Y1 - 2021/03/01 UR - http://cgp.iiarjournals.org/content/18/2/103.abstract N2 - Background/Aim: This study investigated the utility of C-C motif chemokine ligand 20 (CCL20) expression in saliva as a biomarker for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and also examined the associated microbiome. Materials and Methods: The study group included patients with OSCC or oral potentially malignant disorder (OPMD), and healthy volunteers (HVs). microarray and qRT-PCR were used to compare salivary CCL20 expression levels among groups. Data on CCL20 levels in oral cancer tissues and normal tissues were retrieved from a public database and examined. Furthermore, next-generation sequencing was used to investigate the salivary microbiome. Results: A significant increase in the expression level of CCL20 was observed in both OSCC tissues and saliva from patients with oral cancer. Fusobacterium was identified as the predominant bacteria in OSCC and correlated with CCL20 expression level. OSCC screening based on salivary CCL20 expression enabled successful differentiation between patients with OSCC and HVs. Conclusion: CCL20 expression may be a useful biomarker for OSCC. ER -