New Biomarker for Diagnosing Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Lymph Node Micro-metastases Discovered

A new biomarker for the diagnosis of lymph node micro-metastases in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma has been discovered and isolated by researchers Alessia Maria Cossu, Federica Melisi, and Marianna Scrima, of the Biogem institute in Ariano Irpino, in the province of Avellino. The study is the result of a collaboration between Biogem and the Cardarelli company, the Pascale Foundation, and the Campanian universities Federico II and Luigi Vanvitelli. The marker miR-449a will allow a significant step forward for the early diagnosis of a cancer that is very widespread among smokers, which is currently treated with a multidisciplinary approach and with targeted and immunological therapies. The disease represents a third of all head and neck carcinomas and affects the age group between 50 and 70 years, with about five thousand new cases a year among men and 500 among women.