Serum miR-199a as a potential diagnostic biomarker for detection of colorectal cancer

H.-Y. Tan, Y.-B. Zheng, J. Liu

Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery I, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. rmhosp_liujun@sina.com

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• Oncology

OBJECTIVE: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an essential role in the development and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). Aberrant expression of miR-199a was associated with cancer development in many cancers. However, little was known about the clinical value of miR-199a in CRC. This study aimed to investigate the potential relationship between miR-199a expression and CRC prognosis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was carried out to detect miR-199a expression level in serum from 107 CRC patients and 60 healthy controls.

RESULTS: Serum miR-199a levels were significantly lower in CRC patients, particularly in advanced stage CRC subjects. MiR-199a expression in patients with distant metastasis and lymph node metastasis was markedly reduced compared to those without. Moreover, low serum miR-199a expression was associated with various CRC clinicopathological parameters. The serum miR-199a levels in CRC patients were increased significantly after their treatment. Furthermore, the patients in low serum miR-199a expression group had both worse overall survival and disease-free survival. In the multivariate analysis, serum miR-199a was identified as an independent prognostic marker.

CONCLUSIONS: Reduced serum miR-199a was associated with poor prognosis in CRC and it might be useful as a marker for diagnosis and prognosis in CRC.

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