Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan.
J Surg Oncol. 2012 Aug 1;106(2):188-92. doi: 10.1002/jso.23064. Epub 2012 Feb 21.
It was recently revealed that microRNAs (miRNAs) can stably exist in serum and may affect the pathogenesis of several diseases. However, there are few reports that have demonstrated the significance of miRNAs in the serum of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Thus, the aims of this study were to clarify the status of miRNA-21 in serum of ESCC patients and to reveal the usefulness of this molecule as a biomarker.
We measured the miRNA-21 levels in serum samples from 71 ESCC patients and 39 healthy controls by using real-time RT-PCR. We also evaluated the changes in the miRNA-21 level during operation and chemotherapy.
We found that serum concentration of miRNA-21 in ESCC patients was significantly higher than that in healthy controls (P < 0.001). A significant reduction in the serum miR-21 levels was observed in the postoperative samples versus the preoperative samples (P = 0.003). Furthermore, miRNA-21 levels were significantly reduced in ESCC patients who responded to chemotherapy (P = 0.003), whereas no significant change was observed in the non-responders.
Serum miRNA-21 is considered to be a novel biomarker for diagnosing ESCC, and it can also be used as a response marker during chemotherapy for ESCC patients.
最近发现 microRNAs（miRNAs）可以在血清中稳定存在，可能影响多种疾病的发病机制。然而，目前鲜有研究报道 miRNA 在食管鳞状细胞癌（ESCC）患者血清中的意义。因此，本研究旨在阐明 ESCC 患者血清中 miRNA-21 的状态，并揭示该分子作为生物标志物的有用性。
我们使用实时 RT-PCR 测量了 71 名 ESCC 患者和 39 名健康对照者的血清样本中的 miRNA-21 水平。我们还评估了手术和化疗过程中 miRNA-21 水平的变化。
我们发现 ESCC 患者血清中的 miRNA-21 浓度明显高于健康对照组（P<0.001）。与术前样本相比，术后样本中血清 miR-21 水平显著降低（P=0.003）。此外，对化疗有反应的 ESCC 患者的 miRNA-21 水平显著降低（P=0.003），而无反应者则没有明显变化。
血清 miRNA-21 被认为是诊断 ESCC 的一种新型生物标志物，也可作为 ESCC 患者化疗时的反应标志物。
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