ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Medica 2017 April;108(2):108-13

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4806.16.04616-4

Copyright © 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Decreased levels of miR-34a and miR-217 act as predictor biomarkers of aggressive progression and poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma

Yu-Wei TIAN, Quan SHEN, Qing-Feng JIANG, Yao-Xuan WANG, Ke Li, Huan-Zhou XUE ✉

Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Zhengzhou University People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, China

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in tumor development and progression. The aim of this study was to explore the expression levels of miR-34a and miR-217 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to further investigate the clinicopathological and prognostic value of miR-34a and miR-217.
METHODS: The expression levels of miR-34a and miR-217 were evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Associations between these miRNAs expression and clinicopathological features were analyzed. Survival rate was determined with Kaplan-Meier and statistically analyzed with the log-rank method between groups.
RESULTS: We found that miR-34a expression was significantly downregulated in HCC tissues (P<0.05). Reduced expression of miR-34a was associated with vascular invasion, and advanced TNM stage (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier revealed that reduced expression of miR-34a was associated with poor overall survival (log-rank test, P<0.05). We found that miR-217 was downregulated in HCC tissues. Decreased expression of miR-217 was remarkably correlated vascular invasion, and advanced TNM stage (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test showed that HCC patients with low expression of miR-217 was associated with shorter overall survival than patients with high expression (log-rank test, P<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that downregulation of miR-34a and miR-217 was associated with HCC progression and both of them may act as tumor suppressor in HCC.

KEY WORDS: MicroRNAs - MIRN34 microRNA, human - MIRN217 microRNA, human - Carcinoma, hepatocellular - Prognosis