OBJECTIVE

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been widely identified as potential biomarkers for predicting prognosis of glioma. The objective of the study was to examine the clinical role of plasma miR-124 expression in glioma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

MiR-124 expression in plasma samples from 64 cases glioma patients and 40 normal healthy controls was examined by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). The correlation of miR-124 expression with clinicopathological feathers or prognosis of glioma patients was assessed. Univariate and multivariate Cox analysis were used to analyze the risk factors of prognosis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was established, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the difference of miR-124 expression in glioma patients.

RESULTS

We showed that miR-124 expression was significantly downregulated in plasma samples of glioma patients compared with normal healthy controls (p<0.05). Plasma miR-124 expression significantly associated with Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) score (p<0.05) and WHO grade (p<0.05) in glioma plasma. Patients with low miR-124 expression had worse disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) time than patients with high miR-124 expression. Univariate and multivariate analysis implied that low miR-124 expression was an independent maker of disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in glioma.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings implied that plasma miR-124 expression may serve as an independent predictor of poor prognosis.