Identification of a novel microRNA profile in pediatric patients with cancer treated with anthracycline chemotherapy.

Anthracycline chemotherapy (AC) is associated with decline in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), yet the mechanisms remain unclear. Although changes in microRNAs (miRs) have been identified in adult cardiovascular disease, miR profiles in pediatric patients with AC have not been well studied. The goal of this study was to examine miR profiles (unbiased array) in pediatric patients with AC compared with age-matched referent normal patients. We hypothesize that pediatric patients with AC will express a unique miR profile at the initiation and completion of therapy and will be related to LVEF. Serum was collected in pediatric patients (10-22 yr, n = 12) with newly diagnosed malignancy requiring AC within 24-48 h after the initiation of therapy (30-60 mg/m) and ~1 yr after completing therapy. A custom microarray of 84 miRs associated with cardiovascular disease was used (quantitative RT-PCR) and indexed to referent normal profiles (13-17 yr, n = 17). LVEF was computed by cardiac MRI. LVEF fell from AC initiation at ~1 yr after AC completion (64.28 ± 1.78% vs. 57.53 ± 0.95%, respectively, P = 0.004). Of the 84 miRs profiled, significant shifts in 17 miRs occurred relative to referent normal ( P ≤ 0.05). Moreover, the functional domain of miRs associated with myocardial differentiation and development fell over threefold at the completion of AC ( P ≤ 0.05). Moreover, eight miRs were significantly downregulated after AC completion in those patients with the greatest decline in LVEF (≥10%, P < 0.05). This study demonstrates, for the first time, that changes in miR expression occur in pediatric patients with AC. These findings suggest that miRs are a potential strategy for the early identification of patients with AC susceptible to left ventricular dysfunction. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Although anthracycline chemotherapy (AC) is effective for a number of pediatric cancers, an all too often consequence of AC is the development of left ventricular failure. The present study identified that specific shifts in the pattern of microRNAs, which regulate myocardial growth, function, and viability, occurred during and after AC in pediatric patients, whereby the magnitude of this shift was associated with the degree of left ventricular failure.