RNA-Seq of mucoepidermoid carcinoma
Twenty patients who were diagnosed with MEC and treated at the Yonsei Head and Neck Cancer Center between March 2012 and April 2018, were enrolled in the study. Fresh frozen tissues from primary MECs and their matched normal tissues were retrieved and collected during the operation, after approval by the Institutional Review Board at Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine (IRB 255-001). Informed written consents were obtained from all patients. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) patients aged > 18 years; (2) patients with biopsy-proven MEC with a minimum diameter of 1 cm (to get sufficient amount of tissue sample without violating margin finding, which determines for adjuvant therapy); and (3) patients with no previous history of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. All patients were treated surgically by complete resection, according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines.