Yun Jong Hyuk, Baek Moo-Jun, Jung Hae Il
Department of Surgery, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Korea.
Korean J Clin Oncol. 2022 Jun;18(1):17-26. doi: 10.14216/kjco.22003. Epub 2022 Jun 30.
Recently, microRNA (miRNA) has been evaluated to provide a new diagnostic and therapeutic modality hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and other tumors. They are small non-coding RNA molecules that function as transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression by silencing target genes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of microRNA-18a, 221 (miR-18a, miR-221) expression in HCC formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue.
miR-18a and miR-221 expressions were assessed by reverse transcription and real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in 50 pairs of FFPE HCC and the adjacent noncancerous liver tissues. And we evaluated the expression level in HCC tissues as compared with their adjacent noncancerous counterparts. And the relationship between miR-18a, miR-221 level and clinicopathological data and survival rates were analyzed.
miR-221 and miR-18a were overexpressed in HCC tissue as compared with their adjacent noncancerous liver tissue (P<0.001). miR-221 expression was found to be correlated with larger tumor size (P=0.048). miR-18a expression was correlated with modified Union for International Cancer Control stage (P=0.05). The overall survival (P=0.02) of HCC patients with high miR-221 expression was significantly poorer compared to those patients with low expression. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that miR-221 may be a poor prognostic factor of HCC patients.
High expression of miR-221 in FFPE tissues could provide significance for prognosis of HCC patients. Although, miR-18a expression was significantly upregulated in HCC tissues, they are not correlated with prognosis. Further large prospective studies are needed to determine their clinical significance.
最近，微小RNA（miRNA）已被评估为肝细胞癌（HCC）和其他肿瘤提供一种新的诊断和治疗方式。它们是小的非编码RNA分子，通过沉默靶基因作为基因表达的转录和转录后调节因子。本研究的目的是评估微小RNA-18a、221（miR-18a、miR-221）在HCC福尔马林固定石蜡包埋（FFPE）组织中的表达的临床意义。
采用逆转录和实时定量逆转录聚合酶链反应评估50对FFPE HCC及其相邻非癌肝组织中miR-18a和miR-221的表达。我们评估了HCC组织与其相邻非癌组织中的表达水平。并分析了miR-18a、miR-221水平与临床病理数据及生存率之间的关系。
与相邻非癌肝组织相比，miR-221和miR-18a在HCC组织中过表达（P<0.001）。发现miR-221表达与较大肿瘤大小相关（P=0.048）。miR-18a表达与国际癌症控制联盟改良分期相关（P=0.05）。miR-221高表达的HCC患者的总生存期（P=0.02）明显低于低表达患者。多变量分析表明，miR-221可能是HCC患者的不良预后因素。
FFPE组织中miR-221的高表达可为HCC患者的预后提供参考。虽然，miR-18a在HCC组织中的表达明显上调，但它们与预后无关。需要进一步的大型前瞻性研究来确定它们的临床意义。
