SynthesisFrontiers in surgery2026
Salivary microRNAs for oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorder triage: a scoping review and evidence map.
Synthesis in Frontiers in surgery, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Salivary microRNAs (miRNAs) have been investigated for oral cancer detection, but comparison with healthy volunteers does not establish performance among patients with oral mucosal lesions. This review maps evidence relevant to discrimination between oral squamous cell carcinoma or oral cancer (OSCC/OC) and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs). Methods: The evidence was organized as a scoping review with study-specific diagnostic descriptions. Clinical comparators, assay methods, thresholds, participant overlap and data provenance were charted. No estimates were pooled. Searches were executed on 8 September 2026 in PubMed ( Results: Three diagnostic reports contained five assay-level results for cancer vs. OPMD or oral lichen planus. A four-miRNA panel was reported to have 90% sensitivity and 82.7% specificity in 50 OC and 52 OPMD participants. Two individual miRNAs evaluated in the same 30 OSCC and 30 OPMD participants each had reported sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 60%. An additional oral lichen planus comparison had uncertain ROC analysis denominators and was retained without reconstructed counts. Repeated assays within a cohort were not considered independent studies. Small selected samples, data-derived thresholds, inconsistent reporting and limited independent validation restricted interpretation. Conclusions: Salivary miRNAs have shown study-specific discrimination between cancer and selected OPMD groups. Evidence does not establish a transportable accuracy estimate or clinical benefit for lesion triage. Prospective evaluation in consecutive lesion cohorts is needed before these assays can inform biopsy, referral or surveillance decisions.
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